BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXIV
BONE IMPLEMENTS FROM AWATOBI AND SIKYATKI
BONE OBJECTS
A large and varied collection of bone implements was gathered at Awatobi, and a few additional specimens were exhumed from Sikyatki. It is worthy of note that, as a rule, bone implements are more common in houses than in graves; and since the Awatobi excavations were conducted mostly in living rooms, while those at Sikyatki were largely in the cemeteries, the bone implements from the former pueblo far outnumber those from the latter.
The collection consists of awls, bodkins, needles, whistles, and tubes made of the bones of birds and quadrupeds. The two animals which contributed more than others to these objects were the turkey and the rabbit, although there were fragments of the horns and shin-bones of the antelope or deer. Several of these specimens were blackened by fire, and one was stained with green pigment. There was also evidence of an attempt at ornamenting the implements by incised lines, while one was bound with string. Bones of animals which had served for food were very common in all the excavations at Awatobi, especially near the floors of the houses. With the exception of a number of large bones of a bear, found in one of the houses in the northern range of the eastern section, these bones were not carefully collected.
[Plate cxiv] gives a general idea of some of the forms of worked bone which were obtained. Figure a shows an awl, for the handle of which one of the trochanters was used, the point at the opposite end being very sharp; b and c are similar objects, but slighter, and more carefully worked; d is a flattened bone implement perforated with two holes, and may have been used as a needle. There are similar implements in the collection, but with a single terminal perforation. Other forms of bone awls are shown in e, f, g, and j.
There are a number of bone objects the use of which is problematical. One of the best of these is a section of the tibia of a bird, cut longitudinally, convex on the side represented in [plate cxiv], h, and concave on the opposite side. When found this bone fragment was tied to a second similar section by a string (remnants of which can be seen in the figure), thus forming a short tube. The use of this object is not known to me, nor were any satisfactory suggestions made by the Indians whom I consulted in relation to it. This does not apply, however, to the object illustrated in [plate cxiv], i, which was declared by several Hopi to be a bird whistle, similar to that used in ceremonials connected with medicine making.
The manner in which a bone whistle is used in imitation of a bird's call has been noticed by me in the accounts of several ceremonials, and I will therefore quote the description of its use in the Nimankatcina at Walpi.[91]