Main Discussion Area > Cave Men only "Oooga Booga"
Mussel shell bannerstones
swamp monkey:
Some images from Larry Kinsella
Pat B:
Very cool stuff. Thanks for the info. I love learning it all. 8)
Dalton Knapper:
Obviously the question has been answered, but mussel shell decomposes and delaminates horribly over time and in archeological deposits. Almost all shell artifacts from Mississippian times and likely Hopewell are made from marine shell. It was a valued item of the day. Around here (east Arkansas) mussel shell was used for temper in pottery, indicating it's lower value. Even the extra large "pocketbook" mussels were probably only used in utilitarian ways. There are even ceramic vessels shaped like the pocket book mussel shell - likely an indicator for what was being served for food in them.
swamp monkey:
I made contact with Larry Kinsella and he informed me that some of the shells are marine and some are freshwater. The really thick ones were freshwater. He suspects a species known as a Three ridge was the source. I tend to agree. Three ridge mussels have thicker margin and are fairly tough. They were excavated from a number of Woodland and Mississippian archeological sites with holes drilled in them for use as hoes. I suspect they were also used for scrapers and other tool/art craft. My ultimate goal is to replicate one of these atlatls.
Apparently I can purchase asphaltum in the hardware store. Henry's Asphalt Emulsion, comes in a blue and white can and has been reported to me as essentially the same stuff. Kinsella posted that he has used asphaltum to affix his bannerstones and the stuff is nearly impossible to disassemble once set. I recall some discussion on the PA site about bannerstones sliding. I thought that was not possible before but now I am double against that notion.
I always thought there were two primitive adhesives, pitch and hide glue. Not so. I have more to learn :D
I think Native people thought about shells the way we modern bowers think about wood. Each species has it attributes and uses. We are not connected to that knowledge today.
DK, That is an interesting observation about pocket mussel effigy pottery. I have seen effigy pots of whelks and conchs, but never freshwater mussels. Do you have any images of that?
Dalton Knapper:
I do happen to have pictures of that bowl. It is Mississippian in age and comes from north east Arkansas at a site near the Mississippi River that was probably the capital city of who de Soto called the Pacaha.
In this image you can see a pocketbook mussel behind the artifact and the other shows detail (the numbers are on it because it was reconstructed from sherds).
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