Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 22.djvu/166

 154 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s. t 22, 1920

free use of bone and antler, and work in stone and flint liberal, but not greatly varied. Of the characteristic objects of artifice there may be mentioned bone awls of uniform types, made from bones of the deer and wild turkey; draw-shave scrapers, made from leg bones of the deer and elk; triangular unnotched projectile points and blades of flint; stone celts of oval and rectangular section; and, particularly toward the south, discoidal or gaming stones. What may be considered as negative traits are: absence of or only occa- sional use of cremation of the dead; very limited use of copper, mica, obsidian, ocean shells and other materials from distant sources ; absence of grooved stone axes, bell-shaped pestles and banner- stones, and relative rarity of notched flint implements.

To none of the remaining cultures of the state has there accrued so much data, valuable as evidence in comparison with other archaeological cultures and with historic groups, as to the Fort Ancient culture. Such comparisons show them to have possessed very little in common with the Algonquian peoples supposed for- merly to have populated a great part of the state; and this is no less true with respect to the historic tribes and the archaeological areas to the south of the Ohio river. In an unexpected quarter, however, at least from the standpoint of historic evidence, we do find what appears to be an archaeological affinity namely the Iroquoian area centering in New York state.

While the territory of the Fort Ancient group of southern Ohio and the lower Ohio valley, and the Iroquoian region of New York and its extension westward into Ohio, may be considered as fairly contiguous, the evidence of intercourse between the two areas probably is not sufficient to indicate anything more than a possible diffusion of culture traits. The area separating the two groups, while restricted as to extent seems fairly pronounced, with little evidence of overlapping or intermingling. On the other hand, since the Iroquoian people are supposed to have originated south- ward, 1 "down the Ohio river" from their principal historic area, and since the Fort Ancient area trends to the southward, just how far being as yet undetermined, the possibility presents itself of the two

1 Parker (2) : p. 507.

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