Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 22.djvu/178

 l66 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST IN. s., 22, 1920

to the Algonquian family. The first-named trait, respecting pot- tery, seems to be fully borne out in the sites and burials apparently attributable to the Algonquian group in Ohio. The pottery, while fairly in evidence, seems to be mostly plain and confined to cooking vessels and containers. Work in stone, on the other hand, appears to be strongly developed, although the use of bone, from the limited data available, seems to have been restricted. From the rather common occurrence of copper in supposedly Algonquian burials throughout the glaciated section of the state, and where mounds are least numerous, a considerable use of that metal is indicated. As to the remaining artifacts cited as pertinent to the culture the grooved axe, the roller pestle, and the bannerstone and allied problematic forms all are found in abundance in connection with the suggested Algonquian occupancy and, as before noted, are noticeably absent from sites attributable to the two predominant mound-building cultures of the state.

For the study of the Algonquian group, those sections of the area where evidences of occupation by the established mound- building cultures are least in evidence, naturally are most suitable. Throughout central and western Ohio and farther north, many collections of surface specimens have been made, from those con- taining a few specimens to those of unusually large size. Examina- tion of a number of these shows the artifacts of which they are com- posed, with respect to relative occurrence, as follows: chipped flint specimens of the notched and stemmed types; celts, or ungrooved axes; chipped flint specimens of the triangular unnotched type; grooved axes; gorgets or tabular specimens; bell-shaped and roller- shaped pestles; grooved hammers; bannerstones and related problematical objects.

Of these several classes of artifacts, the celts and the gorgets appear to be common to the various cultures of the state; the notched or stemmed flint specimens are common to the Hopewell culture, but are the exception in the Fort Ancient group, where the triangular unnotched form is typical, almost to the exclusion of the notched form. Examination of the literature covering the exploration of upward of two hundred Ohio mounds shows but one authentic

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