FALL 1977 VOLUME XXVIII, No. 2 THE ARCHEOLOG PUBLICATION OF THE SUSSEX SOCIETY OF ARCHEOLOGY AND HISTORY Mason and Dixon House (?) Price $2.00 1 THE ARCHEOLOO TABLE OF CONTENTS ~\\ A LEFT HANDED ABORIGI~E ? ()~;\'1 PAGE by A LEFT HANDED ABORIGINE ? • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1 by Perry s. Flegel Perry s. Fleg-el Does the drawing below shown in Fig. 1. have anv meaning to you A MASON AND DIXON HOUSE ? • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 6 other than a rim shard from an Indian clay pot? Look at it again. by Francis Lewis Notice that the cord-wrapped-stick impressions run from the top of the rim downward to the right. From the most convenient way TWO DORCHESTER COUNTY SITES TO BE OPENED • • • • • • • • • • 10 to hold a clay vessel so as to fuse the coils in its manufacture, by Perry s. Flegel these impressions must have been made by a left-handed individual. RiT'l THE MASON AND DIXON MARKERS IN SUSSEX COUNTY • • • • • • • • 12 by William and Florence Pedersen A PICTORIAL GUIDE TO THE TRANSPENINSULAR STONES •••••• • 19 OFFICERS PRESIDENT •••• Mrs. Elizabeth S. Higgins 512 Poplar St., Seaford, Delaware 19973 VICE-PRESIDENT •• Mr. John T. Purnell 212 E. Market St., Georgetown, Delaware 19947 Fiq. 1. (full size) SECRETARY •••• Mr. David R. English RD2, Box 158, Delmar, Delaware 19940 The cause of the riqht or left-handedness is really not known. Of the dextral and sinistral individuals it is comr:lon knowledqe that CORRESPONDING the first mentioned far outnumbers the latter. Available references state that the prevalence of left-handedness in chil~ren in ihe, SECRETARY •• • • Mr. William L. Pedersen TTnited States is estimated at one out of 18-24 individuals. RD3, Box 190, Laurel, Delaware 19956 ~·le assume that this figure has been derived fron data gathered in TREASURER •••• Mr. Emerson G. Higgins urban areas. It seeMs rather high for rural areas. In MY exper­ 512 Poplar St., Seaford, Delaware 19973 ience, embracing over 40 years of teachinq in rural areas I have noticed less than one per-cent of left-handedness. A recent check ASST TREASURER •• Mr. Lawrence B. Steele, III of 3~8 rural elementary school students reveals hut four left­ RD3, Betbel, Delaware 19931 handed children. If this is any trend, how fewer left-handed individuals miqht be counted aMon~ the ahoriqines? Results are inclusive but an environmental surroundinq miqht have EDITOR an effect upon left-handedness. Could it be that the farther removed in<livi<luals are from urban surroundings the less left­ Mr. William L. Pedersen, RD3, Box 190, Laurel, Delaware 19956 handedness miqht be found? For information regarding back issues of The Archeolog write to William L. Pedersen 1 The Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. II, p. 53. • RD3, Box 190, Laurel, Delaware 19956 2 3 The propensity of man to use the right hand instead of the left hand is by some attributed to the lack of symmetry of the body. Assume that the body could be folded over from a medial line so six generations on my side and five generations on her side that each organ from the one side should lie exactly on a cor­ which extends through our grandchildren. responding organ of the other, the body would be fitted highly, in a mechanical sense, for the equal use of either limb, and am­ Right-handedness appears to be more persistent in man than bidextrous individuals would be the rule. the corresponding quality in the lower animals. Naturalists, who observe that monkeys catch more nuts with the right hand; But the center of gravity of the body of the average person is that African elephants dig more with the right tusk; and that a little heavier to the right side of such a medial line. Thus the Carolina parrot has a preferential claw for grasping, tell the right side is a bit heavier. This greater weight has been us that these habits are subject to exceptions more numerous estimated at about one pound. Again, this may be the result and than those of left-handed human beings.3 not a cause of right-handedness. From my observations I have found that right-handedness is more And yet it is known that the left side of the body controls what the case or the rule rather than the exception. In the Nariobi the right side does, and that the right side controls what the National Game Park, Kenya, and also along the Uganda-Conqo left side does. border of Lake Edward I have watched countless baboons (papio The 3-lobed right lung of our body receives more air during in­ anubis neumanni) reach for food given them, and also pick up spiration than the 2-lobed left lung. The liver during inspir­ objects from the qround most always with the right hand. This ation swings to the right side shifting the center of gravity is also true in the qrooming of each other. farther to that side. These facts tend to have a bearing on a Of the herds of zebra, Burchell's (Equus burchelli ~ranti) in the tendency to balance our center of gravity ~o that we use our Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, as well as Grevy's zebra right hand more than we use our left hand. (Equus dolichohiPpus Grevyi) found only in northern Kenya and Ethiopia, I have observed males fighting and pawing the ground In many Asian countries as well as in Africa and Europe we have always using the right foot. observed that it is a racial habit growing out of the left hand being used for unclean purposes that makes it unfit for eating, Another view of the entire subject has been taken by psychologists, salutations, etc. This statement has also not been proven. who maintain the probability that the tendency to right-handedness is due to unrecognized spiritual causes, which underlie all Ot~ers like Charles Reade (1814-1884) contended that man should phenomenon of life. Since we do not know what life is, or even be ambidextrous and that it is his duty in athletics to pre­ why or how we are such sentient creatures, the problem is wholly serve the balance between the hands. beyond our reach, and the ingenious theories we propose only demonstrate ~an's fondness for speculation. Information is not readily available relative to left and right­ handedness as inheritable traits in humans. It would be inter­ No historical information is known that mentions left-handedness esting at this point to determine how, for the general laws that of Indians. The subject was not studied at the time when there have been established for plants and animals, they apply to man. were enough of them around to secure the data. There are some that think that the evolution of man's right-handedness has been In the absence of experimental data, as is available for plants in all probability a late aquisition. This also has not been and animals, the geneticist must content himself with a study of proven. the crosses already made. Human families are small in compar­ ison to those produced by the lower species which have chiefly The oldest records of the human race suggest that early man been investigated. On the other hand, the general interest in from the beqinninq has been right-handed. The pre-historic human traits is greater than those of the lower organisms and "' weapons that have been found are those of right-handed individ­ familiarity with them correspondingly more intimate. uals. Many of the tools and weapons now in use and made today are for the right hand. Much more study is needed to determine the extent of left­ handedness in humans as being hereditary. What is known has not Out of Pit #2, area 1R2 from the Lankford site in Dorchester convinced this writer's viewpoint. (I am the only left-handed County, Maryland, has come a rim shard which this writer believes individual in my family, or my wife's family as traced through wa~ made by a left-handed artisan. No other piece of pottery from this or other pits excavated at this site was found made this way. 2 The Encyclopedia Americanna, Vol. 23, p. 520. • 3' The Encyclopedia Americana, ibid. f 4 5 The shard was 2.75 inches long and 1.75 inches deep, and its thickness was ~ inch. The curvature of the shard indicated that it came from a vessel that had a diameter of approximat­ In the actual manufacturing of a pottery vessel the following ely 12.50 inches. It was shell tempered and of a reddish-gray procedure may have taken place. After a coil of clay was color and had a hardness of 3.0. The rim was straight and the pressed into place on the forming upper edge of the vessel, the lip rounded. There was no incising on the shard and the im­ next step was the fusing of the coils. pressions were made with a cord-wrapped-stick. The impressions The vessel was held in the right hand (if the artisan was left were clear and definite reaching to the very lip of the vessel. 4 handed) with the bottom toward the worker and directed slightly See Fig. 1. toward the left. With the fingers on the inside of the pot and over the area to be paddled, so as to support the wall or side of the vessel, and the thumb on the outside, the working of the clay could be done on a fairly solid surface. This reinforcing of the vessel with the fingers was necessary in order to pre­ vent the collapse and/or distortion of its shape.