Wampum and Beads Event August 23rd ~~ An Update!

SRAC "WAMPUM AND BEADS” ROUNDUP
Saturday August 23, 2008, 1 – 4pm
at SRAC – 345 Broad Street Waverly, NY

In June of 2007, Dr. Marshall Becker, Senior Fellow of Anthropology at the University of PA and I embarked on a journey into the Oneida Nation near Syracuse, NY.

We were doing so because he had requested to view the wampum that they had on display on a website. After several months of discussions on this, he was allowed to come and view the wampum which was under lock and key in their police station for the day while the chief of police stood and watched our every move.

This was no everyday experience let me just say, and I was honored to make this historic trip since I am told we are the only two "outsiders" that were allowed to come and see these incredible pieces ... ever.

These pictures are from that very special day that you see below...In all there were two "cuffs" and two belts, and to me the shell beads looked brand new.

Marshall measuring one of the cuffs


close up of the end of one of the belts

the other cuff

Marshall later published an article in our SRAC Journal in September of 2007. you can read it by clicking here now.


As I have said, to see any wampum these days let alone in this kind of shape is pretty much reserved for a small group of the elite in our region of the world...but out of my friendship with the good doctor, I actually saw all of this...and after my trip, I started thinking that it was an experience that SRAC just might be able to try to put together by asking our collectors to ROUNDUP their items out of their collections for the day.

On August 23rd, you are invited to not only learn more about wampum from Marshall Becker, PhD, but we will also have Dr. Kurt Jordan from Cornell speaking about historic and glass beads, and ALSO the well known specialist in Iroquoian beadwork, Dolores Elliot, MA will be presenting "The History of Iroquois Beadwork."

But on top of the incredible speakers we have for the day, we have invited ALL collectors to bring their beadwork and yes ---- even wampum---- to display for the day and have these specialists tell them more about them. We already have been notified to expect some incredible pieces from collectors from three different states!

If you are a collector that has any beadwork in your collection, you too can bring your items to be securely displayed for the day by contacting me and arriving an hour before the event begins (at noon.)

We hope that you will mark your calendar and make your way to Waverly, NY for this unprecedented event, that only a unique organization such as SRAC is willing or able to host. While I cannot promise that you will see what we did at the Onieda nation last year, I do believe that you will experience an incredible collage of wampum and beadwork that you will never get the opportunity to see again.

Hope to see you there.

"Archaic Mounds and Earthworks" by Don Straub

The archaic earthworks found at the Poverty Point, Louisiana site as well as others around the country have baffled researchers for the past century. This is because at the time they were built, supposedly man was still a "hunter and gatherer" as opposed to being able to sustain a village site let alone a huge complex such as these.

Collectors are always welcome to bring their artifacts to display and share with the group!

PRICES REDUCED!
Adults- $3
Kids - $2
SRAC Members $2

Man Mound Commemoration Event - August 9th, 2008

For those that know anything of my talks about the "Mound Builder Myth" or the effigy mounds that I have traveled around the country to see, you can imagine how I felt when I opened the mail this morning and received a flier and invitation to the Man Mound Commemoration Event in Sauk County, Wisconsin in a couple of weeks...

"Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the preservation of the Man Mound in Sauk County, Wisconsin and highlighting the importance of this unique Native American Effigy Mound.

Man Mound is believed to be the best preserved man-shaped Native American effigy mound remaining in the United States. In 1907 efforts by founding members of the fledgling Sauk County Historical Society along with the Wisconsin Archeological Society and the Wisconsin Federation of Women's Clubs were successful in saving Man Mound from
the farmer's plow. The park was dedicated in August of 1908.

Plans are underway not only to commemorate this significant Native American artifact, but also to initiate an archeological study of the mound, focusing on its importance to Sauk County and the state of Wisconsin. Importantly, we hope to engage both public and private groups in establishing a best practices plan of stewardship to preserve Man Mound for generations to come.

The 100 year commemoration of Man Mound Park will be held on August 9,2008, from 10 a.m.12 p.m. at Man Mound Park. Speakers will include representatives of the Sauk County Historical Society, Wisconsin Historical Society, Ho-Chunk Nation, Wisconsin Archeological Society, Wisconsin Archeological Survey and the General Federation of Women's Clubs - Wisconsin.

The mission of the Sauk County Historical Society is to preserve, protect, and share the rich history of Sauk County. As stewards of Man Mound, we feel privileged to address the importance of effigy mounds in Wisconsin." ~ Sauk County Historical Society

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Man Mound is quite a place and I was lucky enough to visit it twice to date.

The first time Susan and I had no idea how to get to it as the book we were reading was quite vague. As a result we stopped at an ice cream stand (my favorite place to get directions...) Inside, there was a high school band fundraiser going on so that there was alot of parents and kids and obviously they looked at us (tourists) and wanted to know where we were from, etc....They were incredibly nice people we thought and so it wasn't long before we asked one of the "moms" for directions to the Man Mound...

Side Note: Have you ever watched one of those shows where someone says something and at that moment the crowd freezes, there is a noise like someone just scratched a record into a dead stop, and they feel immediately as if they have suddenly grown three heads? Well, that was us at that moment....

The mom finally asked us why would want to go there, and we said we were studying the mounds up there....She then went off into the crowd and brought back a gentleman who gave us directions.

We got our ice cream and walked out to the parking lot. Just as we were getting into the car, the mom yelled out the door. "Pray to the Indians!" and we just looked at her and I said something like, "WHAT?????"

Anyway - - we finally did get there after driving through miles and miles of pastures and farmland...and even though we thought we were up there in the middle of nowhere with only the cows across the road where the Man Mound's feet once were, another car pulled in right behind us...

Strangely, before we could even get out of the car these two took off their sandals and started rolling around on the Man Mound's chest.

NOW if you know me, you know that patience is not one of my strongest points...I had come thousands of miles to see this mound and to video tape my experience there only to have two "hippies" rolling around on it seemingly doing a "new wave" fertility dance of some sort.

Only making matters worse was the fact that the the mound was thick with mosquitoes, and it was hot as all heck!

So when you look at the following page and you watch the video at the bottom there, you will see as it begins that I am actually looking over at the mound as I am swatting mosquitoes and waiting for the hippies to leave....(they did after they did a perfect somersault between the horns on the mound's head by the way...) You actually even hear the car pull away...

http://www.spanishhill.com/whatis/typesofmounds/DevilsLake/ManMound.shtml

As you can see by the video, the mound really captivated me even after all of the distractions that had occurred...

In fact, I can't help but think that this mound is a man with cat-like features (earth/water - spirit - panther? - yes they had varied names like that....) because of the so-called horns that resemble cat's ears and the hands and feet resembling paws.... To me a man taking on the earth spirit ..... in other words a shaman trained in ways of the earth medicines, such as medicinal plants, herbs, agriculture, minerals, and so on. Of course this is only my theory.....no science...just thoughts pieced together...

And if I am right...this mound at Devil's Lake (also in Baraboo, Wisconsin) would be his opposite...The Bird Man Mound:

http://www.spanishhill.com/whatis/typesofmounds/DevilsLake/BirdMan.shtml

By the way - - the bird man shows up in PA as well- this is an image of the Safe Harbor petroglyphs that our own Ellsworth Cowles helped the state save before a new dam would have submerged them forever... Here is where the petroglyphs were located..(thousands of miles away from the mounds in Wisconsin!


Anyway - - the birdman in Wisconsin seems to look JUST like the Bird man of PA.....hmmmmmmm.... Somewhere I believe I also have a picture that is eerily a copycat of the the man mound in a petroglyph in PA but have yet to find it again...stay tuned!

You see, there are hundreds of bird mounds in Wisconsin...mostly referred to as "Thunderbirds" -(and these are represented on the Safe Harbor petroglyphs as well btw..) but they don't have human legs on them...For this reason, I tend to think that again this was a mound dedicated to another shaman, a person....from what I understand, but this one would have been trained in "sky spirit" medicine such as lightning, rain and so on but also other things like mental disorders and dreams.

Together the sky and earth spirits were believed to be opposing forces and bitter enemies....In fact you can read more about this in the following article:

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/wlhba/articleView.asp?pg=1&id=15154&key=Thunder&cy=

With any luck I will be able to talk to someone from one of the speakers from the great Ho-Chunk nation (that is said to be the ones whose ancestors created thousands of these mounds not only in Wisconsin but across several states in that region) about all this stuff that I have read here and there and hopefully understand what they believe the mounds were made for and for whom when I attend this ceremony on August 9th. Wish me luck.

You can count on the fact that I will be reporting whatever my experience is when I return!

( ;

Recap - John Orlandini's Presentation 7/21

Well if if you missed it - you missed a great night of archaeology, history, chit-chats and friendships! We had over 50 people and lots of archaeology to look at before and after the presentation.

Special thanks to Dick Jackson of the Tri-Cities Chapter of NY Archaeology for bringing his trade pipe collection and some other artifacts which was the largest collection I have EVER seen!

Also - Last night was the first night for us to show off our latest collection donated to us -- more on that to come!

( ;

SRAC's Chairman of the Board, Ted Keir did the introduction for the night.


This presentation by John Orlandini, past president of the Luzerne County Historical Society, is directly related to his 1996 book, “The Ancient Native Americans of the Wyoming Valley: 10,000 year of prehistory.” The five years it took to accumulate the information for the book left him with an over-all knowledge of the early Native Americans who lived, hunted, and traded in the Wyoming Valley.


Many slides of uniques artifacts were shown and many questions followed the presentation.

An unbelievable number of Native Americans lived there in prehistoric times during the Woodland Period according to archaeological evidence found throughout the Valley. When the Europeans arrived and started moving west from the East Coast, many of the early woodland dwellers were forced from their homelands. The Iroquois granted their brethran; the Nanticokes, Shawnee, and Delaware permission to settle in the Wyoming Valley with the agreement that they would protect the Valley in the name of the Iroquois.

Contact trade goods have been found at these sites during topsoil removal. Similarities and differences of the early and later cultures were discussed.

John’s newly released book is entitled, “Indians, Settlers, and Forgotten Places in the Endless Mountains.” It covers Bradford, Sullivan, Wyoming, and Susquehanna Counties, with discussions on the Wyalusing Path, stone tools used in everyday activities, flintknapping, Indian graves and petroglyphs, medals presented to the Indians by the English, In search of the Goose, the French Azilum, Friedenshutten, and twenty other interesting topics relating to the Endless Mountains.

The book will is available at SRAC's Gift Shop (which is open from 1-5 Tuesdays through Fridays and Saturdays from 11-3pm for $17.95.) The book is signed by the author.

Thanks again to John for making the trip "up north" and supporting SRAC!

The next presentation will be "History's Mysteries" on August 5th. This presentation will be by Tri Cities Chapter of NY Archaeology Don Straub and he will tell us about "ARCHAIC" mounds and earthworks such as one of my favorites, Poverty Point. Please mark your calendar for this one folks....it is a really interesting topic for those of you who have not heard about sites like this!

- - Hey- we don't call it "History's Mysteries" for nothing!

Hope to see you there!

CHARLES (CHUCK) LUCY, CLOSE FRIEND AND FELLOW AVOCATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

CHARLES (CHUCK) LUCY, CLOSE FRIEND AND FELLOW AVOCATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGIST, HIGHLY RESPECTED BY THE PROFESSIONALS BY TED KEIR, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, SRAC

Chuck Lucy, in stature, a small man but huge in wisdom and generosity. He grew up in the Susquehanna River Valley in Bradford County. He graduated from Athens High School and attended Cornell University for three years where he played in the big red band. World War II was underway and he tried to enlist, but they told him he didn't weigh enough. This is understandable if you knew Chuck.

He then took a job in tool inspection at the Ingersoll Rand Pneumatic Tool Plant in Athens, where he worked for a number of years. He and his wife Elizabeth (Liz) raised five children and she went along with her husband's hobby. I remember seeing her with a trowel and brush working with Chuck on some interesting excavations.

I often walked with Chuck on our favorite sites following stream flooding and plowed farm fields. We shared each other's knowledge of projectile points associated with local native American cultures.

Chuck took a special interest in local clay pottery. He was considered an expert by the professionals, identifying several dozen tribes or clans by the tempering used and the pot's rim decorations found on various excavation sites. John Witthoft, considered Pennsylvania's most knowledgeable archaeologist, became Chuck's mentor, especially on ceramics and he visited the Lucy home a number of times and in 1948, asked Chuck to become his assistant. Chuck declined because the pay was so low.





Lucy was very active in the Andastes #5 chapter of the Society of Pennsylvania Archaeology, and he worked closely with the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission, recording a number of sites in both states. He also held active membership in the New York State Archaeology Association and the Eastern States Archaeology Federation.

Some of the sites Lucy and I worked together on were: Kennedy site at Tioga Point; Pepper Farm at LeRoy; Point Farm, between the Chemung a n d Su s q u e h a n n a Ri v e r s ; Cowenesque Dam, Tioga County; Canoe Camp, Mansfield, Tioga County; Blackman site, Hornbrook; Scrivens site and State Aggregates Mallory Run site in Sheshequin.

Lucy worked on a number of other sites: Wilson site, East Towanda Fairgrounds with Catherine McCann; Ellis Creek site, Tioga County, NY; Abbe-Brennan site, S. Main St. Athens; Schoonover and Nagle sites in Sheshequin and the Murray Farm site in West Athens.

Lucy had a number of his archaeology works published: The Owasco Culture, 1959, 1991; Tioga Point, 1950, 1952 and 1991a; Lucy and Vanderpoel, 1979; Brule and Spanish Hill, Lucy and McCracken, 1985; Friedenshutten, A Multicomponent site, near Wyalusing, Lucy and Keir, 2002.

Chuck Lucy passed away on June 29, 2003 at the age of 81. His wife Liz lived only 40 days after Chuck's death. They meant so much to each other, I said she died of a broken heart.

The Tioga Point Museum in Athens has some of Chuck's artifacts and he left them an excellent display of local pottery and projectile points, individually identified. A number of things went to the state museum in Harrisburg including a tremendous book collection. Sad but true, if we had organized SRAC a few years earlier; perhaps we would now have a number of collections for display to help preserve our local history.

THE ARC SITE - The largest known Paleo Indian site in New York State

by SRAC Member, Stanley Vanderlaan, Albion, NY

The largest known Paleo Indian site in New York State was discovered by my dad, Jacob, and this writer in 1984 near Oakfield, New York (between Buffalo and Rochester). It was named the Arc Site and covers well over one hundred acres, which we have surface hunted many times. Hundreds of end and side scrapers (broken and complete) have been recovered. Also, many knives, spokeshaves, drills, gravers, limaces, sickles and preforms were found. Over 60 different fluted points (Clovis) are represented. Many thousands of waste flakes found shows that tools were made or resharpened here.
Most of the artifacts are made of local Onodaga chert, but about 5% are of Pennsylvania Jasper or Argilite, Eastern New York State Onondage, Flint Ridge (Ohio) or Canadian material.


These exotic (non-local) tools were carried into this area when they first arrived, as they didn't know if tool making stone existed here. Their lives depended on reliable tools.



Many of the fluted points represented are of bases only. This suggests that the tips were sometimes broken off the spears at the killing areas and that the wooden spear shafts were brought back to the camp where the broken flint bases were detached and discarded, then new points installed. Caribou were probably the main food source here as this provided food, shelter and clothing.


It is possible that these early hunters came to this area from the Shoop Site in Pennsylvania seasonally to intercept the caribou herds that were going east to the calving grounds in the Adirondack foothills in the Spring and southwest to Western Pennsylvania and Ohio in the Fall.

There is a high hill near the site from where, on a clear day, one can see Lake Ontario. From here, I suspect that these early hunters could have seen the receding glacier far to the North.

Since this is such an important site, I have mapped in each of the artifacts as they were found. We have a couple of radio carbon dates for the Arc Site: 10,370 plus or minus 108 and 11,700 plus or minus 110 years old.

Thanks to Jack Holland at the Buffalo Museum for measuring, weighing and numbering over 1700 tool specimens from this site.

The Horned Skeleton Story

While doing research for my article in Pa Archaeologist and making the website, www.SpanishHill.com , I have come acrossed many references to the "Giant Horned Skeletons" that were supposedly found in the 1880's "in a mound near Sayre, PA." Most people that contact me through the internet concerning this story do so because they believe that Spanish Hill must certainly be the mound that was being referenced. However, I have no evidence to support that theory. In fact, I have decided to provide what information I do have for you, the reader to decide whether this story is factual or merely a mythical legend.

"Chemung's Predecessors Huge Giants

Were Seven Feet Tall and Had Horns" - Thursday July 12, 1916.

This is the headline from the earliest news article that I can find. It is from 1916,( as opposed to the 1880's.) This article goes on to say that this is "One of the Most Remarkable Scientific Discoveries in History Made Here - Sixty Eight Skeletons of Men Living 700 years ago Unearthed between Sayre and Waverly"… "A Queer Fellow: He was seven feet in height. Horns protruded from his skull"…"horns of solid bone which grew straight out from the skull about two inches above the perfectly formed skull and which gave every evidence of having been there since birth."

However a follow-up article is also available to this article with a quote from one of the men from the Moorehead expedition who have been identified as the team who found the skeletons. In the follow-up article, Alanson Skinner, asked, "Will you grant me the privilege of correcting the assertions of a news dispatch concerning a find made by our party and the alleged discovery of a mound near Sayre, Pa, in which the bones of men seven feet and more were unearthed? The dispatch further narrates the astounding fact that on some of the skulls, two inches above the perfectly formed forehead, were protuberances of bone, the inference being that these monsters were horned!" Unfortunately, I can only include short excerpts from it here, but you get the idea and can read these articles in their entirety at:http://www.spanishhill.com/articles/horned.htm.

Later in 1921, the founder of the Tioga Point Museum and owner of the land where the burials were supposedly found, Louise Welles Murray followed this up with her explanation as to what had happened that day in her article, "Aboriginal Sites in and Near "Teago", now Athens, PA." In this article she stated, "While the writer was present one of the men in working a grave exclaimed, "There are horns over his head!" Mr. Skinner said that indicated chieftainship. Later this was found to be a bundle burial, completely covered with antlers of a Virginia deer. A passing visitor, however, heard the exclamation and attempted to verify it by interrogating a fun-loving Maine workman, and the story grew and was printed from coast to coast that one or more skulls had been found with horns growing from the forehead!"

Recently, I was given a small grocery store checkout style booklet that had the following on pages 16 & 17:

"It was the late 1880's. A group of scientists were conducting an expedition through the Bradford County area of Pennsylvania, in the northeastern part of the state near the New York state line.

The group, which included a Pennsylvania state historian and two professors, as well as a member of the Presbyterian church's hierarchy, had worked their way to a town called Sayre, where they became interested in a series of what appeared to be burial mounds.

Dr. P.G. Donehoo of the church and professor's A.B. Skinner and W.K. Moorehead of the American Investigation Museum and Phillips Academy in Andover, respectively led their group to the first of the mouonds to begin careful excavation.

What they uncovered has puzzled science for nearly a hundred years.

Painstakingly scraping away dirt and rocks the expedition revealed several skeletons of males. The burial date of the skeleltons was estimated at about A.D. 1200. So far, not unusual. But then they measured the remains and looked more closely at the structure. It was then discovered that the males had been over seven feet tall - - all of them - - a height unheard of in ancient times.

But strangest of all, close examinations of the skulls of the mystery men showed that they had horns...two actual horns apiece...that were an integral part of each skull.

Impossible, but they were there. Seven foot giants with horned skulls who died nearly 800 years ago.

The excited scientists carefully wrapped the remains for shipping and sent them to the American Investigation Museum in Philadelphia for closer examination. At the facility, scientists puzzled over the mysterious skeletons for months. Articles about them appeared in journals and magazines and then somehow they disappeared and were never seen again, taking with them the riddle that forever belongs to the unsolved." - Source: Great Unexplained Mysteries- Probing the Unknown - Globe Communications Corp, 1989

With that I have given you what I know or where to find it and will leave this up to you to decide for yourself what is truth or legend, and will just state that while I think it is a fun topic, it would be irresponsible to not include Skinner's and Murray's explanations in any report on this topic. So while you can find tons of references on the internet concerning our local "giants with horns" to this day, while you are surfing, don’t forget to check out all that I have compiled at:

http://www.spanishhill.com/skeletons/

Want to see actual local artifacts and learn more about the local Native Americans that lived here centuries ago? Visit SRAC at 345 Broad St. Waverly from 1-5pm Tuesdays - Fridays and 11-3pm on Saturdays!

July 21st - - SRAC and Andaste Chapter of PA Present: The Ancient Native Americans of the Wyoming Valley

July 21st is the next Andaste Chapter/SRAC joint presentation at 345 Broad Street Waverly, NY on July 21st from 6:30 - 8PM. As usual, collectors are invited to bring artifacts to share and discuss before and after the presentation. Admission is free to the public.


This presentation by John Orlandini, past president of the Luzerne County Historical Society, is directly related to his 1996 book, “The Ancient Native Americans of the Wyoming Valley: 10,000 year of prehistory.” The five years it took to accumulate the information for the book left him with an over-all knowledge of the early Native Americans who lived, hunted, and traded in the Wyoming Valley.

An unbelievable number of Native Americans lived there in prehistoric times during the Woodland Period according to archaeological evidence found throughout the Valley. When the Europeans arrived and started moving west from the East Coast, many of the early woodland dwellers were forced from their homelands. The Iroquois granted their brethran; the Nanticokes, Shawnee, and Delaware permission to settle in the Wyoming Valley with the agreement that they would protect the Valley in the name of the Iroquois.

Contact trade goods have been found at these sites during topsoil removal. Similarities and differences of the early and later cultures will be discussed.

John’s newly released book is entitled, “Indians, Settlers, and Forgotten Places in the Endless Mountains.” It covers Bradford, Sullivan, Wyoming, and Susquehanna Counties, with discussions on the Wyalusing Path, stone tools used in everyday activities, flintknapping, Indian graves and petroglyphs, medals presented to the Indians by the English, In search of the Goose, the French Azilum, Friedenshutten, and twenty other interesting topics relating to the Endless Mountains.

The book will be available at our meeting for $17.95 and signed by the author.