Archaeologist
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OHIO ARCHAEOLOGIST VOLUME 13 JANUARY, 1963 NUMBER 1 Published by THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF OHIO (Formerly Ohio Indian Relic Collectors Society) The President's Page Perhaps the most important single position in our Society is that of Edi tor of the "Ohio Archaeologist." Ed Atkinson, in his years of holding that position, has made the "Archaeologist" probably the outstanding magazine among those published by state archaeological societies in this country. It is, therefore, with the deepest regret that we received the letter an nouncing his decision to resign. Speaking for the whole membership of the Society, I take this opportunity to thank him for the many hours he has spent, the hard work he has put in, and the fine job he has accomplished in editing our magazine. His shoes will be hard to fill. As I write this, we are preparing for the meeting in Dayton on March 10. This is the first of the meetings planned by the Executive Board to be held in cities of the state other than Columbus. I trust that by the time you read this the meeting will have turned out very successfully and that the weather will have co-operated. It will be a rare treat to have Dr. John Witthoft as our speaker. In addition to displays of fine artifacts, either of assorted types, or of one particular type, we should like to urge members to bring displays of site material from locations they have hunted over or dug. While these arti facts are not often perfect or beautiful, they do tell important stories of the places where they were found, and about the people who lived there. Other members may have found sites with similar material; by comparing notes you may be able to extend the known areas of certain cultures. It will not be long now until we can be out in the fields, searching for new finds, and thankful that this record-breaking winter is over at last. Do not forget to send records of sites you have found to our Technical Adviser, Raymond S. Baby, at the Ohio State Museum. This is a wonderful opportunity for our Society to do an important job for Ohio archaeology by helping to per fect the records which the Archaeological Department at the Museum keeps on sites in the state. Mr. Baby will gladly furnish site record sheets if you will drop him a card. Yours for successful hunting this spring! John C. Allman, President - 2 - These Adena leaf-shaped blades are from the collection of the Fire- lands Museum in Norwalk, Ohio. Such blades are usually found in caches and beneath mounds, and occasionally in grave association. The larger one (right) is made from the white Flint Ridge material extensively used by Adena, and shows a quartz crystal inclusion at the lower right. The smaller specimen (left) is made from the matte-surfaced varicolored flint from the Ridge, and exhibits at the top and lower left the unusual mustard-brown color; other areas include a delicate pink and a cream color liberally mottled with blue. The late Dr. Leon Kramer had several blades of this size and of similar flint in his collection. Both of the present specimens show a scraper edge on part of one side of the base. Nothing is known of the origin of these artifacts, but presumably they were found in the Firelands area of Erie and Huron Counties. (Photograph and comments courtesy of Arthur George Smith, Curator of Archaeology, Firelands Museum.) 3 - The Editor's Page February 14, 1963 John C. Allman, President The Archaeological Society of Ohio Dear John, With very deep regret, here is my resignation as Editor of "Ohio Archae ologist" and as a member of the Society's Board of Directors. While I would like to have this resignation effective this date, you know you can count on me to do what I can to further the progress of the January 1963 issue, and to make a smooth transition to the new Editor just as soon as he can be named. (signed Ed W. Atkinson) ***** "With very deep regret" hardly expresses the disappointment I feel in not being able to continue as Editor of "Ohio Archaeologist" and maintain the reg ular publishing schedule. I've given up hard. But the plain facts are these: (1) the demands of my business must come first and these demands have been, and apparently will continue to be, more pressing than I had anticipated; (2) because of limitations of time and energy I cannot promise to adhere to the desired quarterly publication schedule. To the officers and trustees of our Society ... and to the members ... my sincere thanks for their patience and understanding during the erratic publish ing period since November 1961. To the Technical and Associate Editors Ray Baby and Thyra Kabealo, and to the Editorial Staff and Publications Committee, my deep appreciation for their help. Thank you all. Ed W. Atkinson - 4 - Gems of the flint-knapper's skill are these extreme "eccentric" shapes, assumed to be fakes. This photograph was found among the records of the late Freeman Mooney of Mt. Sterling, Ohio. Your Editor would like to record data that will supplement this photo graphic record. Does any reader know more about the origins of these fakes and their present whereabouts ? Fig. 1 (Matthews) -- Archaic cache found in Jefferson County, Kentucky. 6 - Archaic Cache From Jefferson County, Kentucky by James J. Matthews, 3712 Rouge Way, Louisville 18, Ky. A collector finds very few caches of relics in a lifetime of search ing the fields. It has been my good fortune to have found three such caches in 26 years of hunting. A portion of one cache was pictured in "Ohio Archaeol ogist", vol. 8, no. 4, Fig. M, page 121, October 1958. I wrote "Sarge" Smith concerning the cache pictured in the issue of July-October 1962, as I felt it was a little unusual. He informed me he had heard of ax-bannerstone caches in the Archaic assemblage, in association with burials and not in burial associa tion. The cache (Fig. 1) was found on the old Calhoun Farm off Minor's Lane in Jefferson County, Kentucky. This site has long yielded a fine assemblage of Archaic artifacts. I know of at least eight hardstone banners from the area concerned. The site had been graded in the spring of 1961 in preparation for building a subdivision. Two feet of soil had been removed down to the clay hardpan. During the summer, work had ceased and a sparse growth of weeds had covered the site. I decided on the 23rd of September to walk over my old hunt ing site, for possibly the last time, with my friend Gene Atherton. We had walked over the site for about an hour, finding only a small thumbnail scraper and a broken projectile point. My friend was about 50 yards away when I spotted a small green granite pebble exposed, about quarter size, in the clay hardpan. I usually carry a small garden shovel and I hit the small patch of green granite expecting a small pebble to emerge. To my sur prise it was the upper edge of the head of the large ax. The large ax was placed bit end down. The ax in the lower left of the photo lay about 3" below the surface to the left of the large ax, blade toward it. The prismoidal "saddleface" banner was found about 2" below the smaller ax. The ax in the lower right of the photo lay about 4" below the soil surface to the right of the large ax with blade toward it. The large ax is beautifully made of green granite, three-quarter grooved, deeply fluted, and weighs 6 pounds and 13 ounces. The ax in the lower right corner of the photo is of black and white speckled granite, three- quarter grooved, weighs 2 pounds and 7 ounces, with slight fluting. The ax in the upper right corner is of black and white speckled granite and weighs 1 pound and 13 ounces. It, too, is three-quarter grooved and is slightly fluted. The saddleface bannerstone is 2 1/2" long and 2" wide, fully drilled. The ma terial is a light brown, lightly speckled gneissic material. All of the arti facts are perfect in all respects. No visual evidence of a burial was present. The entire cache was found in an area no larger than a half-bushel basket. Is it possible this cache was beneath a burial that had been scraped away? Burials have been found at the site so this is quite possible. Other artifacts from the site are the typical Shell Mound type found at Indian Knoll, Lone Hill, and the Clarksville sites in Indiana. I would enjoy hearing from anyone who has found other ax-bannerstone caches. - 7 - Decatur Points (Editor's Note: In the opposite illustration are examples of Decatur points, and the following description of the type is quoted from Bell, Robert E.: "Guide to the Identification of Certain American Indian Projectile Points." Special Bulletin No. 2, Oklahoma Anthropological Society, University of Okla homa, Norman, Oklahoma, 1958.) "The Decatur point has been named by J. W. Cambron from specimens collected in the vicinity of Decatur, Alabama (1957, p. 17). "Description -- The Decatur point is a small to medium sized dart point characterized by a distinctive base which has been fractured to produce a flattened edge. Two special flakes have been removed from the base of the stem, one from each tang extending toward the mid-line of the point.