Mussel shell bannerstones

[swamp monkey]

Oh that is nice! Thanks for sharing those pix.

[JackCrafty]

Asphaltum (or bitumen) is a natural, waterproof, hot-melt glue.  It is also quite brittle, especially in cold weather.  (I wish I knew where some guys are getting their "super adhesive" asphaltum).  So, wherever these properties were useful, that is where asphaltum was used.  In my opinion, using asphaltum for securing atlatl weights doesn't seem like the best use of the material.

The shell segments obviously took a long time to make.  It would be better to use a river stone tied on with sinew.  And the segments glued together would take away from the flexibility of the atlatl (if that is indeed what they they were mounted to).

They look ornamental to me, especially of the shell possessed attractive colors or a translucency that looked beautiful in the sunlight.

[swamp monkey]

Patrick, I agree with you about the sensibility of atlatl mechanics.  I am new to asphaltum.  I am taking Larry Kinsella's word for it that this was what the natives at Indian Knoll used to cement those shells together.  He examined the shell items and has spoken at length with archeologists who house the collection.  So if he says they used asphaltum, then I suppose they did. 

Like you I wonder why.  I understand from Larry that there are natural occurring sources of asphaltum near Indian knoll.   So was asphaltum as convenient to use as pine pitch?  Would one grip shell better than the other?  Larry also indicated asphaltum was used for binding stone banners to atlalts.   So this makes me wonder why.

I intend to make a replica of these shell banners.  If I can find enough martial I will bind one with asphaltum and one with pine pitch.  Then I can compare and contrast in different situations.  Your observations about brittleness in cold temps is interesting.  I would expect that these atlatls, if functional, would be used in winter in deer hunting.  Would brittle adhesive make a difference?

I think you are onto something with the look.  I intend to see how attractive a shell banner could be.  I almost wrote a note about how shell working was time consuming. . .  Then I thought about how time consuming igneous rock banner construction is.  . So I am not going to throw stones . . Er shells.  Well you get the point.   

Love the discussion!

[JackCrafty]

I understand from Larry that there are natural occurring sources of asphaltum near Indian knoll.   So was asphaltum as convenient to use as pine pitch?  Would one grip shell better than the other?

Unless you have access to a tar pit, natural sources for asphaltum often produce a crumbly, coal-like substance that bubbles and produces lots of gas when heating it.  After a while, you end up with a goo that hardens into something that looks like, and behaves like, burned sugar.  In contrast, pitch can be used straight from the tree if the pitch is fresh (but not too fresh) and is a lot more plentiful.  However, niether one "grips" very well.  Hide glue works much better on shell, especially if it is not exposed to water  There must be some sort of superstitious value or water-proof purpose in using asphaltum over another glue.

As for speaking with archaeologists, it may be useful to think of them as jacks-of-all-trades but masters of none.  They simply don't have time to do in-depth research on obscure subject matter.  The reason for this is that it is not necessarily advantageous to one's career to spend a lot of time on the use of asphaltum on things that might be bannerstones, for example.  It is different with us hobbyists:  we can literally spend years on aphaltum use it if we wish.  I've heard archaeologists refer to this knowledge as "intimate familiarity" with the subject matter among amateurs.    

[swamp monkey]

Patrick, it sounds like you have some background with asphaltum.  Is it your opinion that the identity of that substance be questioned?  I am asking, not challenging. 

Side note here - written communications are notorious for conveying the wrong tone.  just to clarify I ask my questions in a spirit of conversation and learning, not frustrated disagreement.  I am enjoying the conversation and hope you are too.

Back at it, I may have the chance to see Larry Kinsella this weekend and plan to ask him things like how do you know that wasn't pine pitch?  (I wouldn't know asphaltum from black licorice) and why use it if it gets brittle when cold? 

While I want to see where those questions take me I know that the middle Mississippi Valley and lower Midwest had a significant hypsothermal period (a hot and dry weather pattern) during the Archaic period.  That coincides with the use of bannerstones.  Prairie systems and oak savannas dominated the landscape over areas of Missouri and Illinois as a consequence.  Here in Missouri it was a time for prairie and dessert flora/fauna to invade.  Today we have collared lizards and tarantulas in Missouri as a remnant of that hot/dry period.  Our rocky glades create artificially warmer micro dessert as refuge.  But I digress.  I need to look more closely to the area Indian Knoll occurs to see how much influence that would have had on the Indian Knoll site.   So it may not have been freezing cold as often, on average during that time period.  Maybe that was a saving grace. 

So it sounds like asphaltum is not a superior gripping agent.  Following that line of logic, so why use it if a superior adhesive was available?  Hide glue is affected by our present climate of humidity and rainfall here in SE Missouri.  I wonder if the hypsothermal would  mitigate those effects.  That would actually argue in favor of hide glue and against the less effective adhesive/mastics. 

I fully appreciate that there may be something at play here I am not considering.  That is why I want to experiment with it.  Hopefully I can gather enough three ridge mussels for some replica action.  I am really looking forward to this. 

I also appreciate your comments about archeologists.  I give Larry a little extra credit.  I am not sure he is an archeologist, but he does a huge amount of experimental archeology.  His work with celts and bannerstones is outstanding.  However, your point on this topic is well received and well taken.    Intimate familiarity.  I like it.     

Please keep the thoughts and comments coming! I love it.   

[JackCrafty]

I'm enjoying this conversation quite a bit!

Asphaltum is variable stuff.  I've got four different batches from four different sources (maybe more) and all are very similar when heated but different when cooled.  Some is very brittle and some not so much.  But none is less brittle than straight pine rosin unless you have a large lump (larger than a prune).  The larger lumps will bend slightly before breaking, especially in hot weather.  In cold weather, it breaks without bending and is very hard.  I think the indigenous people probably mixed the asphaltum with animal fat but I haven't tried that because I don't want to ruin the pieces that I have in case I'm wrong.

I've used asphaltum to haft a few altatl dart points and a knife and it was frustrating trying to get the asphaltum to flow without bubbling.  It cools fast and the assembly must be quick.  The more you use, the easier it is to apply.  It also stains everything and is messy.  Again, the native peoples must have mixed it with something or obtained the asphaltum in a gooey state.

When I was a kid, we took a trip to Mexico and I heard rumors of people chewing asphaltum like gum.  The roofers down there were always repairing seams and cracks in the roofs with pure asphaltum.  I tasted some and it was terrible.  But who knows?  Maybe the asphaltum was chewed before it was applied in ancient times?  Maybe saliva alters the asphaltum and keeps it gooey?

[Dalton Knapper]

I'm just asking here because I have no direct experience, but what about when resin is mixed with other ingredients such as deer droppings (thus incorporating the broken down plant fibers) to increase the elasticity? The amalgam is surely more strong with the add-ins than pitch alone? I have no idea how much, but I know a pitch mixture with other materials was used as a binder for mounting points. Perhaps it is a different situation and I am just posing the question since it seems like adding another more flexible material to pure pitch strengthens it.

[JackCrafty]

Never had much luck with adding fiber (like droppings) to pitch to make it more flexible.  It should work, as any engineering text on using fibers within concrete will tell you, for example.  But I just can't tell the different when using the pitch/fiber mixture on points.  I have noticed that the fibers will make the pitch a little stiffer (less runny) when working with it in a melted state.

Wrapping + pitch, on the other hand, is a very effective combination and has distinct strength advantages over either pitch or wrapping alone.

[swamp monkey]

A couple of weekends ago I visitd with Larry Kinsella.  If you are not familiar with him, he has a website called megalithics. There is a lot of good information on there.  He does experimental projects in archeology.  He indicated you could scratch the black material on the stone bannertones and shell composite bannerstones, to smell the petroleum it was made of. 

On a related topic,  I have a message to a curator regarding Sizes for the shell disks.  I also have asked how do we know the difference between marine and freshwater shells?  I am curious how do we know what we know.

[swamp monkey]

I found a few more Indian Knoll KY shell weight pix posted by Larry Kinsella on Paleo Planet.  He also had image of some of the atlatl antler handles and antler atlatl hooks associated with bannerstones.   Six different sets of segmented shell weights were discovered.   Five sets were directly associated with an antler hook.


I received some dimensions for some of these segments and have since cut out a pattern and marked up some shells.  I will post progress as I have it. 

[swamp monkey]

I pulled out some three ridge mussel shells that have been collected over time.  In Missouri it is permissible to collect five mussels per day with a fishing permit, so long as the mussel is not protected.

First shot below is the mussels with a template drawn on them.
Next is the blanks cut out and the resulting debitage.
Final image is the blanks alone.   

My next step over the Christmas/New Year break is to weigh each blank, and measure thickness.  I cut out 15 in hopes of getting 8 good ones.  I will grind and sand them into shape.  Once I have them all shaped and drilled, then  I will compare them to the artifact's measurements and mass.  Some time after that I hope to do the same process over with a marine shell.  My hope is to see how they compare to learn more about the originals. 

I will keep you posted.

[Onebowonder]

This is a kewl project sir!  Looking forward to seeing the final/finished product.

OneBow

[swamp monkey]

I found out today there was a seventh example of one of these segmented shell atlatl weights found at Indian Knoll.  It also had 8 segments.  Of these seven examples they either have 11 or 8 segments.   interesting. 

[JackCrafty]

Hmmm... you can use the 8-segmented weight (for hunting) beginning in August and the 11-segmented weight beginning in November?   

[swamp monkey]

Hmmm... you can use the 8-segmented weight (for hunting) beginning in August and the 11-segmented weight beginning in November?   

chuckling aloud. . .