 |
| ISHI BOOK. BY JOE DABIL AND RAY HARWOOD |
Photos by Peter Bostrom of Lithic Casting Lab, Dennis
Torresdale and Jeb Taylor
Dedicated to the late Charlie Shewie)
Flint knapping is a part of the world lived in by a very few, but at one time it was part of everyone's world to some degree. The man named Ishi was at the end of that time and the start of this one. It was early in the morning, just the break of dawn, August 9, 1911, some miles south of Red Bluff, California, an exhausted and fearful man was found in the stable of a slaughter house. It was a middle aged American Indian man whom came in from the woods; he was taken off to the jail at Oroville. Sheriff J.B. W Webbe, who was the one who figured out Mr.Ishi was a "wild" Indian and locked him up in a cell for the insane,for Ishi's protection more than anything. Curiosity brought both locals and outsiders from miles away to see were described as a "wildman". Local Indians and "half breeds" came in and attempted to communicate with Ishi, but to no avail. He was the last human on earth that spoke his language. He spoke no English, he was starved and his black hair was burned off short as he was in morning. The man Ishi, the last of the Yahi. The Yahi, a small branch of the Yana, were situated in northern California. Ishi lived in the Mill Creek in the foothills of Mount Lassen, east of the Sacramento River and south of the Pit River. Fortunately for us Ishi was a master flint knapper and he still retained all the knowledge and skill from living a life as his tribe's flint knapping expert. The points Ishi knapped are so delicate, thin and well flaked; they far surpass nearly all points found in archaeological contexts and collections from prehistory. Ishi has a point style named after him, as well as a specific type of flint knapping tool. Ishi had lived his life in the wilderness, his tribe had been wiped out by murderous miners and hunters, Ishi lived alone - isolated. The story of Ishi's capture became headline news. One of the readers happened to be Professors Kroeber and Waterman, anthropologists at the University of California. The two men took an instant interest, as they had gone on an expedition looking for Ishi's people 3 years earlier as some surveyors had happened upon their camp and reported their discovery. It was this discovery that brought the demise of Ishi's people as the surveyors had stolen the Indians' winter supplies as trophies and the Indians did not make it though the winter. Years before the surveyor incident, Indian killers had attacked the tribe of peaceful Indians slaughtering men women and children, one killer switched to his pistol as his riffle was "tearing up the babies too much." You can see why Ishi feared white people; he thought he would surely be executed. Since Ishi's language was extinct, there was no communication with him. It was very discouraging for Ishi and the white men. Finally Waterman broke through with a few Yana words he had found. Ishi went and lived with Kroeber and Watererman at the museum, Ishi would give flint knapping demonstrations every Sunday to crowds of interested onlookers, he also sold his handiwork. On his time off from demonstrations and ethnographic data collecting, Ishi went to the near by hospital and made friends with Dr. Saxton T. Pope, whom was amazed at Ishi's skill as a woodsman and archer. Pope and Ishi went on many trips into the wilderness and Ishi shared his bow making and flint knapping secrets with his new friend. Ishi died at noon, March 25th, 1916. He told his friend Pope at the end "you stay, I go". It was Yahi tradition that the body be buried whole so it could make the trip to the land of the dead, but before Kroeber could do anything about it Ishi's body was autopsied and cremated and his brain cut out and sent to the Smithsonian. California Indians have been trying to gain Ishi's remains for burial but have been largely unsuccessful as no Yahi decedents survive. Just within the last several months, however, a turn of events have taken place and it appears Ishi's remains have been returned to his beloved Deer Creek for a final rest.
The Ishi points, some collected by Jeb Taylor and Charlie Shewie have
great interest
. Here is the Strange Story of Chalrie's collection of authentic Ishi points: from an interview with me in 1998:
1. It was the summer of 1967, "Haiti Ashberry", California,
an odd place to find Charlie Shewey- in the hart of
hippie heaven. He had read the Kroeber book on Ishi
and he was walking the hallowed ground of knapping
history. There he was in Golden gate park. Gone was
the Hospital where Pope and Ishi had spent hours
talking archery, the Museum where Ishi lived -gone.
The smell of the sea and the sound of the breeze was
all that remained. There in the distance a lone
figure (the only human in a sea of hippies) -a cop.
Charlie asked the cop where Ishi's collection may be,
the cop replied " the University at Berkley". (to be
continued...)
2....well it was still 1967 and Charlie Shewey is still
visiting there at the University at Berkley. Charlie
walking across the campus shoving hippies as he goes
finds the museum. Not one Ishi item was on display.
Charlie finds the Curator and asks about the Ishi
material. "No one cares about that Ishi Crap" says
the curator. Unable to get anywhere with the
curator-he does what any descent knapper would do
"lets step out-side you bastard!" As the curator goes
for the phone Charlie goes for the door. (to be continued...)
3. There he was headed for the door and mad as hell.
Charlie Shewey had been insulted by a jerk, groped by
hippies and he still hadn't seen what he came for-to
see the Ishi points. As luck would have it -justbefore Charlie got to
the handle of the museum exit
door, a young anthropologist stopped him. "I agree
about all the things you said to my boss, he is a
jerk, come back tomorrow-it is my day off, I can show
you the basement that has the entire Ishi collection.
We can spend the entire day looking at the stuff. (to
be continued...)
So as I was saying; Charlie Shewey heading for the
Museum exit in the summer of 1967...So the
anthropologist caught him on the way out.
The next day Charlie has the motel clerk ring his
room early, the night filled with half sleep dreams of
the Ishi treasure that sits in the museum basement.
Ishi too waits with anticipation, no one has cared
about his treasure for years - he must of watched from
around the fire in the spirit world. OOPS got
spiritual on my buttox...anyway Charlie does the 3 S's
gets dressed for the day and gets to the museum with
the breaking sun. |
Anyway Charlie Shewey walks up to the Museum door and
the young anthropologist opens the door from the
inside, come on in. As they walk through the museum
their foot steps echo through the empty corridors.
They get to a door and the anthro dude pulls out a wad
of keys and sorts through them. He unlocks the
basement door and switches on the lights. The lights
are still flickering as the two men enter the treasure
chamber. "Well what do you want to see first ? Fire
kit, Fish baskets, bow and arrows, clothes what? " I'd
kind of like to see his points first" says Charlie
Shewey. The two walk down the thin passage ways of the
basement - row upon row of thin wooden drawers to the
right and to the left. Suddenly they stop "here it is"
The anthro dude pulls open one of the lower wooden
drawers and with the smell of moth balls he pulls out
several old wooden cigar boxes and laid them down in
front of Charlie, he could not speak. "Looks to be
about 300 here" says the anthro dude.
The anthro dude sets out for cigar boxes out onto the
cold concrete floor of the museum basement. The
anthro dude say to Charlie Shewey "you stay and I'll
go- and Finnish my work" funny that is what Ishi said to
Pope when Ishi died' you stay I'll go". Charlie
nervously opened the first of the 4 cigar boxes. It
was like when they first opened King Tut's tomb. As
the box squeaked open hundreds of shinny and sharp
Ishi points sparkled like jules. 2 to 3 inches,
lenticular cross sections, perfect-dainty-teardrop
notching. All the colors of the rainbow- blue from
Milk of Magnesia bottles, amber from whiskey bottles,
green from whine bottles, white from milk glass
plates, and black from obsidian. Straight blades edge,
sharp functional margins, every flake scar a thought
from Ishi's mind. Each a work of art. Here they were
what Charlie Shewey had dreamed about, it was Ishi's
treasure- complete with ink number carefully applied
by Kroeber and or Pope so many years and dreams ago
--- When Charlie returned he inspected all of Ishi's
things ½ dozen excellently made Juniper bows,
arrows, fishing nets, rabbit nets, deer snares- everysingle thing he
made. After this Charlie was allowed
to spend a few more hours with the Ishi points.
Charlie states that he feels Ishi was striving for 1
inch wide, 3 inches long, notch ¼ up from the base, tear drop
notching and lenticular
x-section..also
strait triangular blade edge. It was getting late so
when the anthro-dude came over they decided it was
time to leave. Charlie reluctantly agreed- since he
took the bus from his motel he figured he best be
getting back--although the hippies didn't pose much
of a threat. He asked the anthro-dude if there was
something he could do for him for being so nice. The
anthro dude states to Charlie that a fluted point
would be nice...Charlie stated that those are a bit
hard to come by- but I could make you a damn nice one.
The anthro dude said that would be great. Charlie
made the anthro dude a very nice chalcedony folsom
point and took bee's wax and stuck the flutes back
in place so the students could see the point both
fluted and
The next morning Charlie got up and took the bus
inland to Stockton, California in the Central Valley
(not far from Bakersfield). There in Stockton was a
museum called "The Ishi Museum" it had several dozend
of Ishi's points as well as a wine bottle ulu crafted
by Ishi. After an enjoyable time at the museum
Charlie looked around Stockton a while and then took
the bus back to the "Bay Area". On the bus back
Charlie reflected on his trip to Kroeber hall the day
before and todays visit to the Ishi museum. Charlie
had read Saxton Popes book on archery in 1925 and Ishi
had been Charlie's hero ever since. By the way-
Popes bow was a Shortened bush type British long bow. You archery
dudes my correct me
anytime!...Charlie was
working for Payway Feed Company at this time as their
pilot so he was fortunate to have taken the Payway
employs on this vacation. It was time to fly them
back home. If it were not for this trip Ishi's stuff
may have been buried a lot longer and the 5 Ishi
movies may never have been made..THE END Ray H.
Special thanks to Charlie Shewey for the many hours of
interview he gave me while doing this and other research! The last part of
my interview with Charlie is lost, he somehow bought points from the old Ishi Museum
in Sacramento - from the security guard and received from from the Berkly Museum as well. Some of Charlie's points have the museum access numbers as those at the museum and the museum number were smudged.
Charlie Shewey - Knapper
CHARLIE SHEWEY
THE COLLECTOR:Another of the earlier flintknappers, a southerner, was
that of Charley Shewey. Charley is perhaps the leading collector of
modern flint artifacts in the world. Back in the late 1970s and early
1980s I can remember hearing stories of the legendary collector of
flint art. Born July 18th, 1911, in a wild cowboy town in Oklahoma,
Charlie was no stranger to Indian lore. Back in 1917 Charlie Shewey
found an arrowhead out on the farm. He wondered how it was made and
did some experimenting with his grandfather. Then in 1923, when
Charley was 12 years of age he witnessed a Boy Scout Master making a
flint arrowhead with deer antler tines. Charlie learned to knap with
the pressure method and got quite good. Then, after many decades of
knapping and collecting Charlie found a copy of D.C. Waldorf's 1975
1st edition The Art Of Flintknapping. After reading Waldorf's book
and eventually meeting him, Charlie got heavier into flintknapping
and produced master quality large flint bifaces and fluted points.
Charlie was the man responsible for bringing Waldorf together with
George Ekland. Waldorf was apt at percussion and Ekland was apt at
pressure. One day in Waldorf's old travel trailer the three met met
and it was like a stand off, Ekland jealus of Waldorf and Waldorf
Jealous of Ekland. Charlie told me once that Waldorf's books was all
wrong at first, Charlie went over it with him and after that Waldorf
produced the Second edition. Still considered an expert on stone
tools and flintknapping, but retired from actual knapping, now at
nearly 90 years old Charlie Shewey is considered an intricate part of
modern flintknapping history and a living flintknapping legend.
Archaeologists, collectors and most certainly flintknappers owe a
great deal to Charlie Shewey. I t was he, in the 1960s, that obtained
the authentic Ishi points that were cast by Peter Bostrom's Lithic
Casting Lab, and therefore made available to all. Charle was a pilot,
Army trained, and he had the job in the 1960s, of flying people
around the country. On one trip to California's bay area charlie made
the trade of his life. In one trip he ended up with 4 Ishi points and
and one Ishi knife./
THE MUSEUM POINTS
doi:10.2307/2694274
Rare Gold Stone Points Made By Ishi at Knapping Demo.Authentic Ishi Points from Private Collections. THE GOLD STONE POINTS
Through a shadowy maze of secret connections and back room meeting and a plethora of mass mailings fallowing up on leads and dead ends. Here is a portion of the Ishi points given away or sold by Ishi from his museum flintknapping demonstrations. All on this first post verified as authentic by chain of position and eye witness testimony and expert lithic technology diagnostics.
This first set is extremely rare, two points made by Ishi from MAN MADE Italian “Goldstone” , a copper powder laced glass made by Italian monks and imported to America.
Point one is a classic side notch point with uncharacteristic wide notching, gold stone is brittle and tends to brake away on delicate tear drop notching.
The point appears to have ear snapped during notching and may have been picked up by the customer as a discard at the demo? The point may have been damaged by an earlier owner. No photo of gold-stone point #2
Rare Ishi Points From Private Collections
Through a shadowy maze of secret connections and back room meeting and a plethora of mass mailings fallowing up on leads and dead ends. Here is a portion of the Ishi points given away or sold by Ishi from his museum flintknapping demonstrations. All on this first post verified as authentic by chain of position and eye witness testimony and expert lithic technology diagnostics.
ABOUT ISHI POINTS
Today Ishi is well known for the arrowhead named after him, a
stylized side notch type, he commonly knapped at his museum home, In
this case, Ishi's short five-year stay at the Museum of
Anthropology, University of California, a legend born of an odessy
that began August the 9th, of August 1911 ending on Ishi's death
March 25, 1916. According to Nelson (1916) . Nothing gave Ishi, and
the visiting public, as much interest and satisfaction as his
arrowhead chipping. The Ishi Point type discussed, he made several
varieties, is as follows: The classic Ishi point is best known for
its symmetrical tear drop notches in the lower margin of the point.
The notch enters at less than a thirty-second on an inch at the
entry point then expand to an eighth of an inch wide or more in the
body of the point. The deep teardrop notches extend three eighths to
a quarter of an inch deep into the face of the basal region. This
gives the neck area, between the notches, a similar diameter of the
prospective arrow shaft creating the perfect haft.
The classic Ishi point has a blade edge that is either straight or
incurvate. The base is concave. The point has sharp angular ears
below the characteristic notches. The point has a triangular form
giving the point the overall delicate but deadly outline. The point
has diffuse diamond cross-section created by a medial ridge. Ishi
points have closed tear drop notches.
The medial section of the Ishi point has subtle oblique flaking
patterns, more pronounced on the elongated specimens. Oblique or
parallel flaking is done, according to Errett Callahan, to create an
extremely sharp edge, as oblique edges do not have delta flakes and
therefore less final retouch is necessary and the blade edge is
razor sharp. The blade edge on an Ishi point is usually incurvate,
this a result of the final pass of oblique medial flakes. The clear
glass material gives the point an ice crystal look, that combined
with its' oblique parallel pattern flakes and near perfect symmetry,
transcends all description of beauty.
"Goldstone (gemstone)
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Goldstone
Goldstone
Goldstone is a type of glass made with copper or copper salts in the presence of a reducing flame. Under normal oxidative conditions, copper ions meld into the silica to produce transparent bluish-green glass; when the reduced goldstone melt cools, the copper remains in atomic isolation and precipitates into small crystalline clusters. The finished product can take a smooth polish and be carved into beads, figurines, or other artifacts suitable for semiprecious stone, and in fact goldstone is often mistaken or misrepresented as a natural material.
The most common form of goldstone gives the illusion of being reddish-brown, although in fact that color comes from the copper crystals and the glass itself is colorless. Some goldstone variants have an intensely-colored glass matrix—usually blue or violet, more rarely green—and a more silvery appearance to the suspended crystals, whose color may be partially masked by the glass or which may be based on different metals than copper (perhaps cobalt, manganese, or chromium).
The manufacturing process for goldstone was discovered in seventeenth-century Venice by the Miotti family, which was granted an exclusive license by the Doge. Persistent folklore attributes the discovery and secret of goldstone to an unnamed Italian monastic order, giving rise to the alternate name "monk's gold" or "monkstone". Another name, "stellaria", is based on the starry internal reflections.
Curiously, goldstone is one of the few cases where a synthetic simulant provided the eponym for the similar natural stone. The original Italian name for goldstone is "avventurina" or some similar word or phrase indicating its accidental discovery, hence the mineral name "aventurine" for forms of feldspar or quartz with mica inclusions that give a similar glittering appearance. Yet another name for goldstone is "aventurine glass", but this should be discouraged to avoid confusion with the minerals."
Blue Green Insulator Glass Point Made By Ishi.
Native Americans and Australian Aborigines both made arrowheads out of Insulators. The telegraph companies got fed up with the knappers steeling their glass isolators that they would leave free ones piles up by the poles so they wouldn't have to repair the section taken down by the knappers.This style insulator, nicknamed "signal", is one of the most diversely colored styles produced by Hemingray. Colors exist in practically the entire spectrum! The example shown above is blue/green and you can see the point made by Ishi, at the museum is the same color
Primary Embossings:
H.G.CO.
Hemingray
No Name
S.S.&CO.
Style Number:
19
Date Produced:
c.1880's-c.1940's
This point is extremely rare, made by Ishi from MAN MADE blue-green insulator glass
Point one is a classic side notch point with uncharacteristic wide notching,Inulator glass is brittle and tends to brake away on delicate tear drop notching.
MY ISHI RESERCH PROPOSAL (BASED ON Rondeau, M.F., and V.L. Rondeau. RESEARCH FORMAT)
RESEARCH PROPOSAL: ISHI LITHICS AND GLASS DEBITAGE
ANALYSIS; A WINDOW TO PROTOTLITHIC UNDERSTANDING,
A LITHIC TAXONOMY.
RAY H. HARWOOD
A. Statement of the Problem There has been a wealth of books and articles related to Ishi and his projectile point knapping. Ishi’s biface production trajectory and physical approach is used throughout experimental archaeology and “folk-knapping’ today (Shackley 2001) and can be traced directlyback to Ishi via Crabtree. However, little has been done thus far on an extensive debitage study, especially a systematic replication of his lithic works relating to the studies of said debitage. According to Shackley(2001) though the objects Ishi made are nearly deified in some circles, an examination of his lithic technology, with current advances, has simply not occurred, possibly as a result of the rather romantic effect of this historical figure.
Succinctly stated; the problem to be researched is the application of modern lithic
debitage analysis to the existing Ishi glass and lithic refuse. Debitage, defined as "residual lithic material resulting from tool manufacture. Useful to determine techniques, and for showing technological traits" (Crabtree 1972:58). The anomaly of glass and lithic reduction in the proto-historic era (protolithics), also known as contact or historic period lithic analysis, will be used to extract important data for this little known, and seldom studied, subfield of lithic technology. I use the term “lithic anomaly” here to designate an artifact class possessing a unique set of definable salient attributes such as might indicate distinct manufacturing and/or techno-functional behavior.It is the focus of this proposed research endeavor to increase the flaked glass and protolithic database with use of modern micro-lithics study methods for debitage classification and subsequent anayasis and and replicative verification through extensive flintknapping experimentation . Replicative studies will focus on the attribute and statistical analysis of the debitage created while maintaining close attention to precise, systematic and historically accurate replication. The lithic debitage will be processed into a precise taxonomy. Taxonomy (from Greek taxis meaning arrangement or division and nomos meaning law) is the science of classification according to a pre-determined system, with the resulting catalog used to provide a conceptual framework for discussion, analysis, or information retrieval. In theory, the development of a good taxonomy takes into account the importance of separating elements of a group (taxon) into subgroups (taxa) that are mutually exclusive, unambiguous, and taken together, include all possibilities. In practice, a good taxonomy should be simple, easy to remember, and easy to use. Flintknapping experimentation is one means of expanding the theoretical scope and application of lithic debitage studies. Flintknapping experiments, replicative systems analysis, have shown, when properly applied, to be a most reliable method, indicating the prehistoric agents responsible for the redundant and unambiguous patterns that occur in the prehistoric flaked stone record (Callahan 1979; Crabtree 1972, 1973; Flenniken 1980; Muto 1971). These identified attribute patterns have been found to vary according to the techniques of production and the stages of reduction, thus exposing clues to technique and methodology (Breschini and Haversat 1991). There is even an indication that the pressure technique used on the long glass points, Ishi made at the museum, was somewhat different than on the smaller obsidian points (Harwood 2001; Shackley 2001). According to Shackley (2001)
“there is no evidence on the performs at the Hearst Museum or in the literature
That Ishi abraded the margins during reduction, even when using obsidian and glass, but to produce the oblique parallel effect he was so proficientat doing, he must have prepared the platforms.” These theories can be tested through micro analysis of the debitage.
In spite of some support for this analytical technique (Patterson 1983), a number of potential problems with size class analysis, as well as, debitage replication have been recognized. These include: 1) different techniques to manufacture similar items; 2) the mixing of waste flakes from different flaking techniques; 3) failure of flintknapping to accurate replicate a collection under study; 4) variations in debitage due to raw material differences; and 5) the collection both prehistorically and historically of certain debitage specimens (Stahle and Dunn 1983:94).
B. Nature and Design of the Project
Described herein are the details of what the project intends to do and where the project will be carried out. The bulk of the research will be carried out at my home and will involve the systematic replication of 10 sets of 10 projectile points each and the subsequent debitage classified and categorized. Comparisons will be made with the actual degitage of Ishi and theories regarding the original; lithic reduction sequences speculated’
The raw materials and technical attributes in the Ishi debitage collection would be subjected to classification and close attribute studies. Various methods of flintknapping replication would correspond to ascertain the type and origin of the various debitage manifestations. From here statistical inferences and theories will be considered, correlations made and the final data used to infer viable reduction and notching scenarios.
The project would be carried out in several phases:
1. A close review and study of the existing publications relative to this study.
2. Initial inspection at the museum and the Ishi artifacts on display.
3. Interviewing key personnel in the lithic and Ishi research community.
4. A close inspection and study of the Ishi debitage, and possibly his tools and stone artifacts.
5. Extensive flintknapping replicate studies and creation of the Ishi lithics taxonomy reference collection; points, performs and debitage .
6. A follow up inspection of all debitage, both Ishi’s and that from the replication
Phase of the study.
7. Final conclusions, peer considerations, and outcome of research project published. Preliminary reports on the finding of this research project will be submitted to:
SCA Newsletter and SCA meetings paper presentation (2008), Journal of Lithic Technology,
C. Methodology
This section should describe the procedures and techniques for carrying out the project and should include at least the following points:
the nature of the data/information to be collected, studies will focus on the attribute and statistical analysis of the Ishi debitage to identify lithic reduction sytems used by Ishi.
1) the methods for collecting the data: Separate the debitage into categories based on raw material, then subclassify by attribute. Replicate material with flintknpping experimentation and create taxonomy.
2) the sources of information such as library materials and field notes (with descriptions of field methods where appropriate) will be provided.
D. Resources and Clearances
1) sources of funding (personal funds, and possible future grants),
2) facilities available (such as computer use and lab/office space in the field and at the home institution), CSUB Archaeology lab for analysis of replicated lithic debitage and corresponding projectile point reduction sequence studies, taxonomy and close analysis and classification of same. UCB Pheabe Hearst Museum for study of historic Ishi lithics. Personal residence for systematic flintknapping replication of 100 test units (“Ishi Points”) and debitage retrieval.
3) equipment available, if applicable; approximate replica of Ishi’s knapping kit will be prepared by student. Diagnostic and analysis tools for magnification and other micro-lithic evaluation are house at CSUB (for replicated protolithics) and UCB (for Ishi’s historical protolithics).
4) assistance available (e.g., contacts in the field or consultants to the project); Several contacts have been established at both the PhD level and that of experts in the field of “folk knapping”, also primitive archery experts have been consulted for their perspective of technological form and attributes of this projectile point style.
5) preparedness to conduct the research (e.g., background course work, prior related research experience, personal knowledge of the study site in terms of language and culture); The research student has familiarized himself with the back ground literature on both Ishi and the field of lithic studies. The research student has been flintknapping, as an amateur, off and on for 30 years and has learned to replicate all of the Ishi styles of projectile point. The research student has familiarized himself with castings of Ishi styles of projectile point procured from “Lithic Casting Lab”.
6) documents obtained or to be obtained (including Human Subjects and Informed Consent Forms, clearances from contact persons, letters of introduction from research director and from host institution, passport/visas, etc.). Letters of personal introduction provided were those used for my Graduate school application package.
E. Time Table
Specify the projected start up date, the period of fieldwork (broken down by time needed to set up and initiate the project, the time engaged in data collection, and the time required for data analysis and write up of the results), and a projected date of completion for the entire project. The initial inspection of the Ishi’s protolithic debiatge at USB Pheabe Hearst Museum will be the starting point. The replication, categorization and report completed and written by SCA meeting of 2008 in Burbank, California.
F Conclusion
In order to understand these stone and glass artifacts, and the person whom made and used them, archaeologists must understand the processes involved in the acquisition of the raw material, production strategies and stages of lithic reduction, and the function, and final disposition of these lithic artifacts. In the past years, experimental studies involving the manufacturing and use of stone tools have been integrated with studies of refitted or conjoined lithic artifacts and microwear analysis. The result is a much more dynamic view of the variability in assemblages of lithic artifacts. Continuing these research techniques into the Ishi lithics and subsequent debitage is a logical progression. COMMENT: It can be expected that a satisfactory fulfillment of items A through D, as well as G, will be directly applicable toward completing the final write up of the project.
G Literature Cited
This listing might contain references that have not been located or looked at yet but will likely be of use before the project is completed.
Adams, Rex K. 1980. Debitage Analysis: Lithic Technology and Interpretations of an Archaic Base Camp Near Moquino, New Mexico. Unpublished Master's Thesis, Department of Anthropology, Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, New Mexico
Ahler, S. A
1989 Mass analysis of flaking debris: studying the forest rather than the tree. Alternative approaches to lithic analysis, edited by D.O. Henry and G.H. Odell. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association Number 1:85-118.
Ainsworth, Peter W. 1987 Comments on Austin's "Discovery" of Biface Notching Flakes. Lithic Technology 16(2-3):56-58.
Burrill, R. 1990. Ishi, America’s Last Stone Age Indian. The Anthro Company. Sacramento.
Burrill, Richard. 2001 Ishi Rediscovered. The AnthroCompany.
Burrill, Richard. 2004 Ishi in His Second World.
Callahan, E. 1979 The Basics of Biface Knapping In The Eastern Fluted Point Tradition. A Manual for Flintknappers And Lithic Analysts. Archaeology of Eastern North America 7: 1-180. ed. Brennan, New York.
Callahan, E. 1999 Ishi Sticks, Iceman Picks and Good For Nothing Things. Bulletin of Primitive Technology 18: 60-68, Rexburg.
Cotterell, Brian, and Johan Kamminga
1987 The Formation of Flakes. American Antiquity 52:675–708.
Cotterell, B. and J. Kamminga
1987 The formation of flakes. American Antiquity 52(4):675-708.
Cowgill, G. L.
1990 Artifact classification and archaeological purpose. Mathematics and Information Science in Archaeology: a Flexible Framework, ed. by A. Voorrips. Holos Verlag, Bonn:61-78
Crabtree, D. 1972 An Introduction to Flintworking. Occasional Papers, Idaho University Museum, Pocatello.
Dibble, H. L. and J. C. Whittaker
1981 New experimental evidence on the relation between percussion flaking and flake variation. Journal of Archaeological Science 8:283-296.
Flenniken, J.J. 1980. Replicative Systems Analysis: A Model applied to the Vein Quartz Artifacts from the Hoko River Site. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Washington State University.
Flenniken, J.J. (1984) The past, present, and future of flintknapping: an anthropological perspective. Annual Review of Anthropology, 13:187-203.
J. Jeffrey Flenniken, (1986) Anan W. RaymondMorphological Projectile Point Typology: Replication Experimentation and Technological Analysis
American Antiquity, Vol. 51, No. 3 (Jul., 1986), pp. 603-614
doi:10.2307/281755
Flenniken, J.J. and P.J. Wilke (1989) Typology, technology, and chronology of Great Basin dart points. American Anthropologist, 91(1):149-158.
Harwood, Ray 2001 Points of Light, Dreams of Glass : An Introduction into Vitrum Technology. Bulletin of Primitive Technology (No. 21).Pp. 24-36 .ed. Wescott, Idaho.
Hayden, B., N. Franco, and J. Spafford
1996 Evaluating lithic strategies and design criteria. Stone tools: theoretical insights into human prehistory, edited by G.H. Odell. Plenum Press, NY:9-50.
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doi:10.2307/2694274b
Ishi
Most of you have heard the story of Ishi a thousand times, the tear
filled tale of the last natural American. Ishi wandered out of the
wilderness in 1911, starving. confused and mourning the loss of his
family and race. The last Yahi-Yana of Dear Creek, California.
Rescued and given sanctuary in the Museum at University at California
Berkley where he lived doing odd jobs and demonstrations until his
death by TB in 1916. Ishi was said to be a reserved and intelligent
gentleman, and an excellent flintknapper. Ishi's friend Dr. Saxton
Pope wrote this of Ishi when he died; "He closes a chapter in
history. He looked upon us as sophisticated children, smart, but not
wise....He knew nature which is always true. His were the ualities of
character that last forever. He was kind; he had courage and self-
restraint, and though all had been taken from him, there was not
bitterness in his heart. His soul was that of a child, his mind that
of a philosopher."
Of late, Ishi has been in the news quite a bit, Researcher Steve
Shakely, of Kroeber Hall at Berkley, states that Ishi may not have
been a Yana after all but, based on physical and anatomical
measurements of Ishi himself and the point type he made, he may have
been a Wintu, a neighboring tribe. Furthermore in the news, the
California Indians have been trying to get the existing remains of
Ishi back from the Smithsonian for burial. Originally Ishi wanted to
be buried in the traditional Yahi-Yana fashion, but the powers that
be at the time had dismembered and burned his body. Before they
burned his body they cut out his brain and sent it to the
Smithsonian. In recent news releases it appears that Ishi's remains
may be returned to his Dear Creek home for burial. The delay in
returning the remains had to do with the fact the Ishi had no living
relatives, recent DNA testing has resolved the issue. In addition,
another bit of Ishi news came about when researcher, Dennis
Torresdale discovered a small cash of authentic Ishi points in Ishi's
waste flake collection in an old coffee can in the basement of the
museum at Berkley. Dennis was extremely noble and turned the points
in to the museum, according to Ishi collector Charlie Shewey, the
last authentic Ishi point sold at auction for a cool $27,000.00. The International Flintknappers ‘ Hall of Fame and Museum is encouraging individuals of all ages to “Be A Superior Example,” through a new education program as part of a new curriculum to promote healthy habits, while encouraging everyone to live free of drugs and other such substances or vices. It serves as the central point for the study of the history of flintknapping in the United States and beyond, displays flintknapping-related artifacts and exhibits, and honors those who have excelled in the craft, research/ writing, promoting events, and serving the knapping community in an ethical and wilderness loving manner.
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