COLLECTION OF THE OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. THE HE collection belonging to the State Archæological Society has recently been removed from the State House to the new fireproof museum of the State University. For many years the collection has remained in the State House. It was sent to the World's Columbian Exposition, and it also was exhibited at the Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley. From year to year donations and exchanges have increased it, and to-day it stands as one of the foremost Archæological exhibits in the entire State. It has been catalogued and rearranged, and now presents a more attractive appearance than it did in the dingy corners of the State House. It consists of 7,560 specimens, and fills eight large combination table-wall cases. The collection is largely the result of the efforts of several wellknown collectors. Mr. Harness Renick, of Circleville, was interested in Archæology for twenty years, and shortly after the Ohio Exposition he presented the Society with his cabinet. As his collection was very large, the bulk of the Society's exhibit comes from Pickaway and Ross Counties. Considering the superior workmanship exhibited in the Scioto Valley relics, it is not surprising to find that Mr. Renick's collection is considerably above the average in fine slate ornaments and ceremonials. While the exhibit is largely Archæological, there are a great many papers and relics of historical value. Chief among these are some iron and steel tomahawks, copper kettles, silver ear-rings and brooches from the Shawnee and Delaware village sites of the State. There is a valuable wooden dipper, a powder horn, and a bread sack presented by one of the head chiefs of the Shawnees to settlers in the Pickaway Plains. The exhibit from Flint Ridge covers all the known forms of implements from raw material down to the finished arrow-head or drill. Many of the Flint Ridge specimens are of exceedingly bright color, and some of them are very large. There are several thousand arrow and spear-heads in the exhibit arranged mostly according to form. These are of various sizes up to eight or nine inches in length. Many of them have the round, smooth tops, so highly prized by the collectors. The collection is deficient in perforating and drilling implements, but on the other hand excels in the serrated and rotary spear-heads and knives. It contains more than four hundred and fifty celts, axes and pestles. The axes are nearly all of the type having a groove extending threequarters of the way around. In the lower Scioto Valley it seems that but few of the flat axes are found; those slightly hollowed on the back are more common. In such parts of the collection as come from the eastern and northern portions of the State, the flat backed axe is very rare. ᄃ The celts are of rather common forms, though some of them are highly polished. There are a few of them flat on one side and oval on the other, having that slightly curved or bevelled edge so rarely seen in collections. As a rule, they are large and thick. Many of them weigh two or three pounds, and are from four by seven to three by eight inches. There are a number of small celts, but they are of the same general type as the large ones. Quite a number of the long roller-like pestles are in the collection, also some very fine bell-shaped ones. Others have a ring or projecting edge at the top, are gracefully narrowed towards the center, and made broad and flat at the grinding base. The hammers are both single and double grooved, and for the most part are of sandstone and granite. I think that the lower Scioto furnishes more sandstone axes, celts, pestles and hammers then any other section of the Ohio Valley. The pitted hammer-stones and large sandstone slabs having cupshaped depressions on either side, are quite numerous in the collection. As Mr. Fowke well says, these singular pitted stones have never been satisfactorily explained. One of the specimens has twenty-two depressions on its two sides. Very few institutions in this country possess a complete set of casts of Squire and Davis' famous effigy pipes. The Historical Society has the entire hundred and fifty. They are colored to represent the originals and serve the student well. There are also reproductions of some of the more famous small objects of the Mexican Museum, and also Peruvian and Central American pottery. There are something over a hundred and forty ornaments, ceremonials and pendants, and about twenty pipes, discoidals and hematites. One of these pipes is ten inches in length, and shaped like the long, slender ones found in the south. It is made of steatite, and closely represents the Iroquois, rather than an Ohio type. The ornaments are largely of slate and shale, although one or two are granite. All the forms, common and rare, are represented. The flat tabletlike ornament with two perforations predominates. There are twenty or thirty ornaments having one perforation at the upper edge. There are two or three stones exhibiting rude pictographs, and one with hieroglyphs, which is doubtless a fraud. By means of exchanges the Society has become possessed of a number of Eskimo bone implements and carvings, and also a small but valuable collection of California mortars, pottery and other Pacific coast specimens. It contains several dozen specimens of Missouri pottery, and also an exhibit of southern quartz and argillite implements. The tops of the cases are covered with Zuñi and Moqui pottery, war clubs, etc. There is a large crayon portrait of Sitting Bull, which was taken two or three months before the Messiah cra originated, This is the only crayon made from life during the latter years of Sitting Bull's career, and is considered very valuable. As the bulk of the material comes from one locality, its careful study will give one an insight into the life of the tribes of the region. As there are other large collections in the same museum from different parts of the country, the opportunities for study and comparison are excellent. To briefly sum up the general results of an inspection of the Historical Society's collection, one would arrive at the following conclusions: That Flint Ridge stone furnished the bulk of the arrow-heads and spears, knives, etc., but that some local materials were employed. That sandstone was used more than granite, slate or other stones. That long pestles are more numerous than in other parts of the State. That the celts are nearly of one type, rather large and thick. That axes are mostly "flat backed." That pottery is thick, generally plain and of poor clays. That fine work in ornamental, ceremonial and emblematic stones, pipes, etc., is more common than in other sections. That foreign materials found on the village sites indicate considerable aboriginal trade and exchange. The conclusions might be carried further, but this would trespass upon the testimony of the mounds of the region, and it is here desired to consider only the surface material. Suffice it to say, whether a student confined his conclusions to the results of village site and surface searching or to the excavation of mounds, his conclusions would be the same, that the people who inhabited the one built the other. WHILE somewhat out of place, the following words will not lose their force by being inserted here. THE ARCHEOLOGIST is conducted in behalf of science rather than for pecuniary gain. As a magazine devoted to students, anthropologists and collectors, its field is naturally limited. It cannot cater to the masses, but to the few. The management is conscious of having given a very valuable series of articles to its readers during '94, and it promises an even more flattering list for '95. It is, therefore, necessary that all interested persons aid us in our work. No such journal as THE ARCHEOLOGIST has ever been established in America, and that it is worthy of support is a foregoing conclusion. For many years collectors and students have desired such a publication. Now that it is assured, that responsible persons are back of it, every man of means should not only subscribe but also take a share of stock. The investment is sure, purchasers cannot loose. We only need a few more $25 subscriptions to pay for a March edition of 6,000 copies. This "Boom Number" will more than pay for itself through its advertisements. Will you not aid us? THE ARCHEOLOGIST. OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT COLUMBUS, OHIO, BY THE season of 1895 promises to be one of great activity in Archæologic circles. Several museums have signified their intention of conducting field work during the spring and summer. The The Archaeologist Pub. Go., Field Columbian Museum of Chi (INCORPORATED.) EDITED BY WARREN K. MOOREHEAD, ORTON HALL, OHIO STATE UNIV., COLUMBUS, O. ENTERED AT THE COLUMBUS, O., POSTOFFICE AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER. SUBSCRIPTION, ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. To foreign countries, $1.25. Advertising Rates-Made known on applica tion. Contributions are respectfully solicited and should be mailed direct to the editor. Address all subscriptions, advertisements and business communications to The cago has already sent out an expedition through Central America. Prof. Holmes accompanies this as Chief Archæologist. expedition is vastly different from that one conducted by Major Pangborn. It is fitted out at the expense of Mr. Armour. It is very encouraging to have multi-millionaires interested in Archæology. We sincerely hope that the good work shall continue. There are many men in Chicago and New York who could afford to send expeditions to a dozen sections of the United States. It is especially important that the ruins of the Colorado River coun THE ARCHAEOLOGIST PUB. CO., try should be explored. Ranch COLUMBUS, 0. EDITORIAL. A FEW more words regarding the new management of THE ARCHEOLOGIST may not be amiss. The form of the magazine continues the same. More matter is printed for scientists and collectors than formerly. There is also more advertising space. There is a Manager's Corner established, and all subscribers and advertisers are referred to it, and requested to read it carefully. It deals with the purely business side of the magazine, and from time to time will give notice of arrears and other matters of interest to those who have the welfare of THE ARCHEOLOGIST at heart. men, relic collectors and dealers are rapidly destroying the cliff houses, pueblo buildings, bowlder ruins and cemeteries. If these important remains are to be preserved, action must be taken at once. DR. SNYDER, of Virginia, Cass county, Illinois, has done much to aid the science of Archæology. His latest work has been in Brown County, where he thoroughly explored a large mound, and in it discovered several hundred skeletons, many valuable. relics, etc. We have telegraphed the Doctor, who has been a frequent contributor to our columns, and will present our readers with a description of his discoveries in the February number. NOTICE. All subscribers to the ARCHEOLOGIST are requested to notice the change in the location of the magazine, and address all communications to THE ARCHÆOLOGIST PUBLISHING COMPANY, Box 502, Columbus, O. Although as much care as is possible has been taken, some mistakes are bound to occur. All those who do not receive their magazines on time, or find them mis-directed, will confer a favor if they will drop a line with address plainly and fully written. It is scarcely necessary for us to refer to his conclusions, as we have treated of them in the past. His present volume simply bears out the testimony previously submitted. Mr. Moore certainly deserves great credit for the service which he has rendered science. In the June, 1894, issue of The Journal of the Polynesian Society (quarterly) F. Arthur Jackson discusses the origin of the fire ceremony, as set forth by Figi traditions. The legend says that once many people were gathered together in a bure, or sleeping house, where there was a story-teller. The latter called upon each to name his nambu, or gift, to the story-teller. Among others, Tui N'Kualita promised an eel. The next day he went to search for lt, and Many of the subscribers are in arrears as to their subscriptions and they would assist us very much by attending to this matter promptly. The money is badly digging in its hole exhumed a human being needed, for the JOURNAL is to be greatly improved in appearance and in other particulars during the coming year. Subscribers are promised a prompt issue of a magazine in many ways superior to that of last year. This work has been practically covered in the various reviews which have appeared in THE ARCHEOLOGIST from time to time. The second volume presents better illustration than those which precede it; especially is this true of the full-page plates reproduced from photographs. The illustrations of pottery, of flint and stone implements, are the most complete that we have ever seen in a work upon the Florida aborigines, and simply corroborates former statements that Mr. Moore's work is the most important and scientific of that conducted along the South Atlantic coast. On coming to the light this man said: “O, Tui N'Kualita, my chief, spare my life, and I will be your god of war. My name is Tui Namoliwai." "No," replied Tui N'Kualita, "you must be my nami u to the story-teller at the great bure at Nakauema." The other offered many things for his freedom, which were all at first rejected, till he promised to take his discoverer into a fiery furnace for four days without hurting him. Tui N'Kualita assembled his people, and before them all the two went into the oven. The stones felt cool, notwithstanding that they were red hot. Then N Kualita said that he did not want to remain there for four days, but that they should return, and he would let his prisoner go if he would confer on his people this power of resisting heat. Then Tui Namoliwai promised, and said: "Your descendants shall go all over Figi and Toga, and our promises shall be ever with them, and they shall tread on fire and go into the ovens." That is the origin of the power said to be possessed by the Matagali, a tribe living on the Island of Bega. |