Minor Antiquities
The rooms and refuse-heaps of Spruce-tree House had been pretty thoroughly ransacked for specimens by those who preceded the author, so that few minor antiquities were expected to come to light in the excavation and repair work. Notwithstanding this, however, a fair collection, containing some unique specimens and many representative objects, was made, and is now in the National Museum where it will be preserved and be accessible to all students. Considering the fact that most of the specimens previously abstracted from this ruin have been scattered in all directions and are now in many hands, it is doubtful whether a collection of any considerable size from Spruce-tree House exists in any other public museum. In order to render this account more comprehensive, references are made in the following pages to objects from Spruce-tree House elsewhere described, now in other collections. These references, quoted from Nordenskiöld, the only writer on this subject, are as follows:
Plate XVIII: 2. a and b. Strongly flattened cranium of a child. Found in a room in Sprucetree House.
Plate XXXIV: 4. Stone axe of porphyrite. Sprucetree House.
Plate XXXV: 2. Rough-hewn stone axe of quartzite. Sprucetree House.
Plate XXXIX: 6. Implement of black slate. Form peculiar (see the text). Found in Sprucetree House.
[In the text the last-mentioned specimen is again referred to, as follows:]
I have still to mention a number of stone implements the use of which is unknown to me, first some large (15-30 cm.), flat, and rather thick stones of irregular shape and much worn at the edges (Pl. XXXIX: 4, 5), second a singular object consisting of a thin slab of black slate, and presenting the appearance shown in Pl. XXXIX: 6. My collection contains only one such implement, but among the objects in Wetherill’s possession I saw several. They are all of exactly the same shape and of almost the same size. I cannot say in what manner this slab of slate was employed. Perhaps it is a last for the plaiting of sandals or the cutting of moccasins. In size it corresponds pretty nearly to the foot of an adult.
Plate XL: 5. Several ulnæ and radii of birds (turkeys) tied on a buckskin string and probably used as an amulet. Found in Sprucetree House.
Plate XLIII: 6. Bundle of 19 sticks of hard wood, probably employed in some kind of knitting or crochet work. The pins are pointed at one end, blunt at the other, and black with wear. They are held together by a narrow band of yucca. Found in Sprucetree House.