Pre-Columbian American
Indian Art
Figurines, Sculpture, Statues and Carvings
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Pre-Columbian American Indian Art Figurines, Sculpture, Statues and Carvings |
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Paleo Weapons Exotic Replicas made with authentic stone artifacts.
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Illinois Pre-History When did humans first come to North America? This question has been hotly debated for over a century, especially now with the recent interest in the last Ice Age. According to established theory, sometime during the Pleistocene, around 13,000 years ago, the last great eastern ice sheet, the Laurentian, reached down only to Wisconsin and was already receding.[1] Paleo Indian had immigrated across the Bering Sea by the land bridge of the Aleutian Island chain (known as Beringia) from Siberia into North America and followed a corridor south between the retreating ice sheets, perhaps to hunt wooly mammoth.
A more recent theory propose prehistoric Solutreans of Ice-Age France also sailed west to America across the Atlantic Ocean along the south ridge of the polar ice cap more than 18,000 years ago. It is thought they brought Clovis point technology and genetic diversity (such as red hair and large noses) to Native Americans[2]. However, genetic markers found in Native Americans of various tribes point more towards Asian ancestry. Even more recent findings[3] suggest that humans came to North America as far back as 50,000 years ago!
The exact date humans came to North America will not be found soon, but the Hebior and Schaefer Wisconsin mammoth sites about 350 miles northeast of our recovery site were recently carbon-dated to 15,000 to 16,500 years ago and contained artifacts that were basically cutting and skinning tools.[4] What was the climate like when people first came here? Northern Illinois has an unusual climate history due much to it latitude and geology. The Chicago region in particular was once under the southern edge of the Wisconsinan ice sheet. When this massive ice sheet started to retreat 18,000 years ago, it depressed the land and created a widen basin:
By analyzing pollen and fossilized vegetation in this ancient Ice-Age lakebed scientists have determined that at the closing of the last Ice Age, the southwestern Chicago region and the northern half of Illinois was like no other place on earth:
So there was a warming trend and a thickening of forestation between 15,000 to 13,000 years ago. According to some, this environment may have driven Mammoth and other large fauna out of their cool grazing lands reducing their numbers into sparsely populated small herds in this region.[6]
What Happened to the Mega Fauna and the Paleo-Indian? Then suddenly everything changed. According to a geological black-layer deposit of carbon containing nano-diamonds at over 50 locations in North America, 12,900 years ago a huge Ice Age comet hit the atmosphere just above Canada. Geologist James Kennett also found an abnormally high percentage of these nano-diamonds in a Greenland Glacier at the 12,900-year layer. What happens next is like something out of a Dooms-day Sci-fi movie: The exploding comet creates a giant white-hot tornado and sets forests ablaze killing off just about everything and everybody in North America. The remaining vegetation would have been charred, forcing starvation upon surviving mega fauna. The comet probably did-in Paleo-Indian as well.[8] This comet melted a good portion the Laurentide Ice Sheet and the resultant flood waters changed the Atlantic currents. This combined with ash and soot in the atmosphere, plunged the Northern Hemisphere into a Mini-Ice Age for another 1,200 years.[9] More evidence of such a catastrophic change lies in Lake Chicago lakebed:
At that time, the summers here were one month shorter than today and rivers had dropped to near present levels. By the end of this Mini-Ice Age 11,700 years ago, the climate warmed. The ancient lakebed tell us ...
After the floods, gravity continued its work on the riverstones, again using water as a tool, albeit in less dramatic fashion: Since glaciers follow the course of rivers, the exposed rocks were washed-up and further polished by flowing water. After it all settled, the ice and floods had cobbled many sections of the clear riverbeds with smooth pebbles and stones - some rare and semiprecious. During the post-glacial flooding, smooth rocks with similar specific gravity had congregated in clusters at eddies on selected northern Illinois river bottoms. In these eddy pockets, matching odd-shaped stones were clearly visible, crafted by Mother Earth’s gravity-hammer and water-chisel. These polished stones would have looked remarkably beautiful under clear water. Who wouldn't have picked up such interesting and shiny stones in a world where shiny objects were rare? (And how could you resist a face looking up at you through the sparkling water?)
The People Who created this prehistoric Pre-Columbian Indian art? Around 11,700 BP (Before Present or years ago), the climate became warmer and drier in Illinois promoting the growth of northern confers and central hardwood forests.[10] Early Archaic Indians (or Late Paleo-Indians) came into the region to hunt small game with atlatl spears[11] then moved to Missouri, Arkansas and points farther south including Louisiana. We don't know what these prehistoric people looked like who made this Native American Indian art as no skeletal remains have been found. They may have looked like the Aleuts of the Aleutian Islands stretching between Asia and Alaska. Some quite possibly had Caucasian features inherited by the Solutrians of France.
In summer months the Missouri/Arkansas people would migrate north into this area by foot to hunt deer and elk.[12] There is also evidence that a few mammoth may have still been around.[13] In autumn they would migrated back to their southern home. These nomadic tribes consist of small family groups - more like clans than tribes - who followed the rivers. They returned each spring to their "Happy Hunting Ground" that was settled by their ancestors who first came down from the Great North. By about 11,000 BP conifer forests became mixed with deciduous trees peppered by high grasslands and low, reedy river bottoms:
Sometime after 11,700 BP the still nomadic Early Archaic Indians began returning to the same Illinois river valleys each spring - not just to hunt - but to stay and fish. Why? We believe two remarkable events happened that narrows the age of this ancient Native American Indian art.
First, a subtle shift in artifact style marks a change in climate and a new phase in Paleo-Indian culture. Sometime after 13,000 BP large Clovis spear points were gradually replaced by the smaller dart points of the new and shorter atlatl spears. The atlatl used a throwing stick to increase range and improve accuracy.[14] Accuracy was important because these people had to adapt to the warming climate with the influx of smaller game species. Second, Archaic Indian became mobile with the invention of the canoe. It is not certain just when the canoe appeared in Native American history, but it was likely a log dugout type. (We know later Native American Indians burned and scraped out their log canoes.) We've found many hand axes and wedges suggesting canoe building. The next-largest percentage of artifacts we find are distinctly from the Early Archaic. We believe canoe building marks the middle of the Early Archaic Period 9,500 years ago. The largest percentage of artifacts we've found however, are more primitive than these Early Archaic artifacts and may even be pre-Clovis - before Paleo-Indian developed the skills to chip out the Clovis point. This leads us to believe that these ancient Pre-Columbian Native American Indian art antiquities might be older than 13,500 years!
It may have been a social statement of status within the group or a means to educate the young, but even a possession such as an figurine can be cumbersome for a prehistoric walking nomad. However, the smaller stone figurines and rock crystals would have been no problem floating down the river in a large canoe, and little burden paddling them back up.
Around 11,500 BP the winters were still harsh in Illinois. So in autumn the pedestrian migrating Early Archaic Indian had to leave heavy items behind (at least the heavy figurine bases). They would stash them on a hill, in a depression out-of-view, or next to a landmark where they could be easily found the following spring - before vegetation became too thick. (Remember, in some parts of the Pleistocene world, rocks of any kind were a rare commodity.) So these ancient Pre-Columbian Native American Indian antiquities must have been originally collected from the river sometime after the first big thaw and flood of the Wisconsinan ice sheet around 15,000 BP but before 11,500 BP - before the invention of the canoe - and when mammoth still roamed North America.
Clan of the River Owl Because two small owl figurines (the first, #100 Winking Owl above, and the second at the opening of "Indian Artifacts") were recovered shortly after finding #74 Mother and Child, we’ve named these people the River Owl clan. Since then we've found more owl figures. In early Indian folklore, owls represent wisdom and helpfulness, and have powers of prophecy. Owls were especially helpful in that they killed mice and other rodents that invaded food stores at night. Owls are also fearless - even around humans, possible making them the most bold of the raptors. Some figurines suggest the River Owl buried their dead and had domesticated dogs. If River Owl man was like other stone age men around the world, he danced, probably in file. There were rituals for birth, puberty, marriage and initiations, which is probably when they danced.
Aside from the occasional rogue male mammoth or mastodon, they also hunted deer, elk and bison. Younger hunters brought in rabbit, beaver, turkey and the now endangered prairie chicken. Eventually they became increasingly dependent on fish, frogs, mussels, clams, crawfish, turtles and their eggs. They foraged for plants, roots, berries, nuts, mushrooms and herbs – both edible and medicinal.
They may have had organized medicine, probably based on symbolic association such as homeopathy (which has been proven quite effective in past and present cultures) and practiced by the local shaman: Many “organ” stones (river-polished pebbles shaped like human organs with appropriate colors) were found just feet from projectile points indicating they too, are ancient Pre-Columbian Native American Indian art antiquities. Stones representing the brain (usually white, oblong geodes with nicks exposing sparkling crystals), heart, lung, liver, kidney, bladder, and even a milky quartz tooth-shaped stone were recovered.
Sympathetic magic also may have been practiced to enhance the five senses. Organ stones of the nose, tongue and finger (touch) were also found. (The eye and ear have yet to be recovered.) Such stones may have been steeped with an herbal tea then drank, or worn with aromatic herbs and flowers in a talisman bag around the neck by the afflicted. We found mushroom-shaped jasper stones, some are collapsed geodes, but one was worked. Most rare, a red flint surgical-like blade was also found in the immediate vicinity of these ancient Pre-Columbian Native American Indian art antiquities.
There is strong evidence that meditation was practiced either by the shaman alone or by other members of the clan as well. “No one knows precisely when meditation began, but experts think it could have been practiced by hunter-gatherers many thousands of years ago. Like many other mystical practices, it might have been reserved for tribal shamans, who were believed to be in direct touch with the invisible spirits.”[15]
Some of these ancient Pre-Columbian Native American Indian art antiquities suggests thunderbird worship (or appeasement). In summer months though, life was good for these people - working only 8 hours a week - as fish, game and edible plants were bountiful.[16] It was a lost Eden.
Much of the River Owl’s ancient Pre-Columbian Native American Indian art antiquities conveys an appreciation of nature’s grandeur. Some of these figurines present profound philosophical concepts. Others reflect deep spiritual meaning. Still other pieces are comic or just plain cute. Some are morbid, stoic or imposing.
Like points, these ancient Pre-Columbian Native American Indian figurines may have been a form of barter. Some of the stones contain clear quartz crystals and the artist would oftentimes chip a corner or even cleave off a sizable chunk just to reveal them. It’s possible these people believed the shiny crystals to be the rock’s life-force and thought of them as alive. Single quartz crystals were also collected and prized by the clan for jewelry or trade.
The River Owl left behind sophisticated tools such as millstones, mortar and pestles for mixing paint and medicines, comfortable-to-hold hammers and hand axes for chopping wood and meat. Smaller ornate fossil-rich hand axes were used to break open bone for the fat-rich marrow. They used a variety of hand- and finger-held personal steak knives of beautifully colored flint, including a smoky quartz crystal knife. Aside from arrowheads and spear points, high-grade hematite tools were also found near the figurine recovery site suggesting these innovative people may have prematurely started the Iron-Age with the use of "virgin' iron. The concept may not be so preposterous considering that in nearby Ohio, iron furnaces[16] dating back 2,000 years have recently been found.
It appears that later, Early Archaic Indians (9,500 to 8,000 BP) visited this site and employed stone sledgehammers to drive stone wedges and to pound and grind smooth the inside of dugout canoes and wooden bowls. Other canoe building tools such as awls, chisels, wedges, drills, planers and sanding stones were picked up. [17] (As far we know this is the first documented case of canoe building tools found with early Early Archaic points, quite possibly because no one has previously looked for such stone tools. Most collectors just go for the projectile points and step over hand tools because they look like ordinary stones, until you pick one up and feel its utility. If it fits comfortably in the hand and also has an edge or blunt face for pounding, and found in the vicinity of points, it's a tool.)
The nomadic River Owl would summer camp just above floodplain at site 2601.B, possibly weaving baskets and fish traps from river bottom reeds. Animal-hide wigwams built with strong, flexible willow poles made temporary but sturdy dwellings: Each season, the hides were canoed up and down rivers and re-used. Then one spring a very long time ago the clan failed to return.
Endnotes/Bibliography [1] Four glaciations covered Illinois in the past, the Nebraskan, Kansan, Illinoisan and a small portion of the Wisconsinan. www.geology.about.com [2] America’s Stone Age Explorers, 2004 WGBH Education Foundation [3] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041118104010.htm [4] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/stoneage/clovis.htm [5] http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/410.html [6] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3318932/How-forests-wiped-out-woolly-mammoths.html [7] http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/i&m/CORRIDOR/geo/geo.htm [8] http://www.livescience.com/animals/070521_comet_climate.html [9] http://www.nola.com/national/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1193981665115410.xml&coll=1 [10] Prehistoric Indians www.caa-archeology.org/~caamicp/eastside/preind.html Native Americans www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/pre/html/archaic.html See the Midwest U.S. 16,000 years ago www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/larson/ [11] The silent and powerful atlatl is a stick of wood, antler or bone with a hook on one end that extends the distance and penetration of a thrown dart (or small spear) by 2½ times. This weapon is so effective; its Paleo prototype is commonly held to be responsible for the extinction of many ice age animal species. The Atlatl has been around since 20,000 BP in Europe (and probably longer) and about 10,000 years in America. It now enjoys a revived popularity among enthusiasts. Also see www.atlatl.net/article.asp?articleid=3 and www.anthro.mankato.msus.edu/prehistory/ancienttech/atlatl.html [12] Archaeological History – Indian County Wisconsin www.mpm.edu/wirp/ICW-22.html [13] "At least in the Great Lakes region of North America, where the bulk of his (Dan Fisher, University of Michigan) samples were unearthed, mammoth and mastodon tusks show that these animals continued to thrive, despite late Pleistocene climate change." Ice Baby, Secrets of a Frozen Mammoth, Tom Mueller, National Geographic, May 2009, pg 42. [14] Technically, they are called “Bannerstones”, see Human History Article - “The Atlatl Weapon” by Grant Keddie, the Royal British Museum Columbia Museum www.rbcm1.rbcm.gov.bc.ca/history/atlatl [15] Joel Stein, Time Aug.4, 2003, “Meditation” [16] http://www.iwaynet.net/~wdc [17] The End of Eden, Elin Whitney-Smith, Ph.D. www.well.com/user/elin/eden.htm For more fine Stone-Age art, click below: |
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This site was last updated 06/16/10
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