A Review of Northern Iroquoian Decorated Bone and Antler Artifacts: a Search for Meaning

Williamson and Veilleux Iroquoian Decorated Bone and Antler Artifacts 3 A Review of Northern Iroquoian Decorated Bone and Antler Artifacts: A Search for Meaning Ronald F. Williamson and Annie Veilleux The Northern Iroquoian practice of producing finely etched designs on bone and antler tools is examined in the context of conveying symbolic messages, some of which were communicated both privately and pub- licly. This paper presents the results of a review of the archaeological literature, which focused on both the symbolism inherent in the designs and the ideological roles in society of the animals from which the artifacts were produced. Tables of provenience and descriptive attribute data are provided for each class of artifact as well as a summary of the highlights and trends in decoration for each. Introduction Trigger 1976:73), it has been suggested that their disc-shape may have been intended to represent In the winter of 1623-1624, Gabriel Sagard, a the sun and that patterns such as the one in Recollet friar, visited the country of the Huron in Figure 1, found on a late fifteenth or early six- what is now southern Ontario and, based on a teenth century Iroquoian site in southwestern series of encounters the Huron had with their ene- Ontario, represent sunbursts, similar to those mies, he noted that after having clubbed their ene- that are common in the art and cosmology of the mies or shot them dead with arrows, the Huron contemporaneous Southeastern Ceremonial carried away their heads (Wrong 1939:152-153). Complex (Cooper 1984:44; Jamieson1983:166). This is a practice that we know was not unique to The stick figure image of a headless individual the Huron but was, in fact, an essential element of accompanying the sunburst is particularly striking. warfare and prisoner sacrifice among all Iroquoian William Fenton (1978:316) has suggested that peoples (Williamson 2007). graphic representations of headless individuals It would seem that rattles were occasionally manufactured out of the parietal bones of human skulls, usually from the same individual, and presumably from the skulls that warriors had carried off as trophies. The margins of the parietal bones were ground smooth and beveled, allowing the two discs to fit together. Bi-conical holes were some- times drilled along the lateral margins, presumably in order to bind the two portions of the rattle. Skull rattles may have been held in the hand or fas- tened to a handle, analogous to the turtle shell rattle which was used during dancing, feasting, and curing ceremonies or at other times when the aid of a spirit was invoked (Thwaites 1896- 1901:15:179, 17:213, 20:23; Wrong 1939:115- 116). Perhaps these rattles were used particularly in the context of feasts held in advance of the depar- ture of war parties. Figure 1. Complete parietal disk, likely from a skull rattle, fif- Given the prominent role of the sun in teenth century Clearville site (Jury 1941). Illustration by Dr. Helen Battle, Department of Zoology, University of Western Iroquoian ideology (e.g., Speck 1949:135-138; Ontario, 1939. 4Ontario Archaeology No. 79/80, 2005 represent head-taking in warfare. This might be a the individual. We also recognize that identifying particularly fitting observation for this image, the significance of artistic media is hardly insight- which possibly was carved into the cranial frag- ful, given the substantial literature on Aboriginal ment of an enemy taken by the very manufac- awareness and use of the physical and spiritual turer of the rattle during war. A characteristic characteristics of rock outcrops and faces (e.g., polish is often found on these items, often only Rajnovich 1994; Vastokas and Vastokas 1973). occurring on exterior convex surfaces, and possi- With respect to the designs or types of decora- bly deriving from hide sheathing that helped to tion, Yellowhorn (2006) has argued that, in con- hold the skull halves together, rendering such structing what he calls an internalist archaeology, images and their meaning inaccessible to unknow- an Aboriginal culture’s worldview represents ing observers. If the images were covered by a what middle-range theorizing is to western sci- sheath, their direct power may have been experi- ence-based archaeology—both play the role of enced privately by the individual, although the binding high levels of abstraction to observed rattle was likely used in public performances. On data. Middle-range theory “is widely regarded as the other hand, the polish may derive from hide a useful means by which archaeologists can containers in which they were maintained when reconstruct human behaviour from a materialist not in use. If so, their power may not have been and rationalist perspective” (Trigger 1995:450). restricted; it may, rather, have been fully accessible. Yellowhorn argues that traditional narratives can This fact and the more apparent observation function easily in an equivalent role for a truly that the image of a headless person was carved indigenous archaeology. In this way, answers to into human bone, perhaps even the skull of the the search for meaning of decorated bone and victim of a rattle owner, indicates that the select- antler objects lie in traditional narratives and art, ed bone, or the medium, constituted an impor- both accessible and inaccessible. tant part of the message. A similar example is In an attempt to address these issues in the that of a maskette fashioned out of a human context of decorated bone artifacts, a review of patella and found in a rock-filled pit inside an the published (and some unpublished) archaeo- Onondaga longhouse, which was linked by logical literature concerning northern Iroquoian Bradley (1987:211) to witchcraft. Engelbrecht sites was conducted in search of data concerning (2003:48), in commenting on this find, and on decorated bone and antler objects. The term the discovery of diseased human teeth in certain “Iroquoian” has been used throughout to refer to longhouse features, argued that human remains, all northern Iroquoian-speaking peoples and in particular hair and nail parings, have been should not be confused with “Iroquois,” an used in many cultures to cast spells and are there- Algonquian word used by Europeans to refer to fore disposed of carefully. Perhaps this maskette the Five Nations Confederacy of New York State had just such a malevolent purpose, its intention (Trigger 1969:6). The actual Nation name has derived in part from the fact it was made of been employed, either when identified by the human bone. researcher, or where the site’s location customar- It is not always clear whether the medium was ily denotes the ancestral affiliation of the site and always part of the message on other kinds of dec- the site post-dates the Middle Iroquoian period. orated bone or antler artifacts, or whether there While the review is nearly complete for those are other examples of objects that held private sites dating to the fifteenth century or later, rela- rather than public meanings. While it is obvious tively few sites outside of Ontario are included that meaning can be communicated concomi- for the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, due tantly at multiple levels, both privately and pub- to the lack of published site reports. The Ontario licly, and that objects frequently have both pro- sample for this period is much larger because of fane and sacred values, ample evidence in the the numerous pre-development salvage excava- archaeological record suggests that there were tions that have been undertaken on private lands ceremonies and meanings that were intended for in southern Ontario. Objects in public or private Williamson and Veilleux Iroquoian Decorated Bone and Antler Artifacts 5 collections have also not been included, except found in child burials and all but three of the where they have been described in the published human figurines and maskettes were recovered literature (e.g., Wray 1963; Hamell 1998:279). It from Iroquois sites. The exceptions are singular should also be noted that our inventory was antler artifacts with carved human faces found restricted to decorated tools, defined to include on two historic Neutral sites (Kenyon 1982:206; both carved artifacts and those with notched or Lennox 1981:319) and a “carved human bone incised surfaces. Those tools with polished surfaces face mask” found at the historic Huron Robitaille alone, or tools described as having striations likely site (Hurley and Heidenreich 1971:129). caused by use of the object, were not included. Martha Sempowski and Lorraine Saunders Tables of provenience and descriptive attribute (2001) have described figurines in detail, noting data are provided for each class and we have also they are limited in temporal occurrence to early summarized the highlights and trends in decora- historic Iroquois sites. In a study of these fig- tion for each. It is unfortunate that the provenience urines, Edmund Carpenter (1942) suggested that of many of the artifacts was not specified in the the style and detail of the legs were dictated, in reports in which they are described, even in the part, by the shape and nature of the deer antler recent research, as it would have been helpful to tine, another case where the medium formed have the contextual data needed for interpretation. part of the message. This paper will present the results of this review The vast majority of these carvings constitute by artifact class, acknowledging that certain variations of the “September Morn” position objects cross a number of the categories. Antler with one hand covering the genital area and the combs, for example—items of personal ornamen- other hand near the opposite shoulder, although tation—often incorporate startling stylized animal some were found to be holding masks or animal and human images.

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