Ohio History Journal

BOOK REVIEWS

Delaware Culture Chronology. By Vernon Kinietz. (Pre-

history Research Series, Vol. III, No. 1. Indianapolis, Indiana

Historical Society, 1946. 143p.)

In this study the author offers a significant report of the

development of an extensive body of historical data concerning

a single tribal culture, and the application of a systematic use of

that data in a field investigation of the surviving culture today.

The tribe investigated was the Delaware. The problem studied

was the process of culture change which was defined as including

acculturation, assimilation, and diffusion. A hypothesis to be

tested by the study was that when a culture is invaded by an

alien and particularly a more complex culture its technology

changes first, its "sociological practices and concepts are more

resistant," and its "spiritual life is the last aspect to be affected."

Since the period of the founding of the Swedish colony

on the banks of the Delaware River in 1638 until today there has

been continuous contact between Delaware Indians and whites.

Gradually their location has shifted from the eastern seaboard to

Oklahoma. Eight accounts of the Delaware or related groups ap-

peared, the earliest in 1643 and the last in 1824. These accounts

contain unusually full ethnographic data. The last three accounts,

prepared under the auspices of Governor Lewis Cass of the Michi-

gan Territory, were based on a questionnaire prepared by Cass

which was motivated by a realization that culture change was pro-

gressing so rapidly that it was essential that the "manners and

habits" of Indian groups be recorded without loss of time. The

earlier accounts used by Kinietz were written by Roger Williams

(1643), Adriaen Van der Donck (1653-1656), Peter Lindestrom

(1654-1656), David Zeisberger (1780), John Heckewelder

(1780's). The Cass manuscripts are dated 1823 and 1824 and

were compiled by Captain Pipe, a Sandusky Delaware; Captain

Chipps, a Canadian Delaware; and an unknown author whose

account was sent to Cass by the Piqua Indian Agent, John Johns-

ton.

314

BOOK REVIEWS 315

BOOK REVIEWS 315

Kinietz reduced the composite information in all eight ac-

counts to a common element list of 476 statements or questions

which could be answered by yes or no, or equivalent signs. In

table form Kinietz then entered answers to each statement, ac-

count by account, in separate columns. After an analysis of these

historical sources, which reflect both time chronology and chang-

ing locale, Kinietz went among the Delaware of Oklahoma and

based his interviews with informants upon his composite question-

naire. The information from four informants considered to be

representative was then entered in four additional columns. The

results showing complete coincidence or difference, or partial

agreement, throughout the entire period in the twelve accounts

and between the eight historical sources and the four informants'

accounts are most provocative. Some statistical analysis is given.

While the conclusions from only twelve accounts cannot be termed

statistically significant, it should be remembered that the authors

of the historical accounts had first-hand knowledge of the events,

concepts, traditions, and people being described, and that the in-

formants interviewed were considered to have representative

knowledge of the past of their people. Kinietz considered that

438 out of 476 elements were cultural and comparable.

From the analysis of his materials Kinietz concludes that

within the limits of unsatisfactory small samples, spiritual life

does seem to be the most resistant to changes, sociological prac-

tices and concepts less so, and technology least resistant. Kinietz

also concludes that his materials indicated that acculturation was

correlated with length of contact with the alien culture rather

than with the type of contact.

This study is a distinct contribution to general methodology.

It illustrates well how historical perspective and knowledge make

possible a much more significant interpretation of the culture of a

tribe which is nearing comparative extinction than would be

possible without historical knowledge and understanding of that

group and its culture based on extensive documentary research.

It also demonstrates one feasible method for using documentary

sources which students will appreciate. It shows how a mass of

ethnological and historical data can be reduced to a practical ele-

ment list which systematizes the information in documents so that

316 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

it can serve as a framework for further investigation in the field.

It is very much to be hoped that other Indian groups can be

similarly studied and reported upon, and then, eventually, that

comparative analyses can be made and presented in this same

fashion.

SARA JONES TUCKER

Department of Anthropology

University of Chicago

Indians Before Columbus, Twenty Thousand Years of North

American History Revealed by Archaeology. By Paul S. Martin,

George I. Quimby and Donald Collier. (Chicago, The University

of Chicago Press, 1947. xxiii + 582p., 122 figs., 18 charts.)

Indians Before Columbus is a pioneering book, for the au-

thors have ventured forth boldly into a poorly charted area in

an attempt to guide the reader through the bewildering mass of

information that goes under the name of North American ar-

chaeology. They begin in a sense with an apology for their

undertaking when they state: "This book has been written for the

interested layman and for students taking introductory courses in

anthropology. It is not intended as a general reference book for

professional archaeologists." They need not have warned off

the specialist, for this reviewer is certain that many professionals

will not only use this book as a guide in teaching, but will also

consult it for "general reference" purposes!

The book covers the whole range of archaeology north of

Mexico, although some areas have been omitted or are only

sketchily treated due to lack of available information. Prehistoric

Indian cultures of the various geographical regions are outlined,

concisely characterized, and compared to cultures of other areas

in order to reveal relationships and to place each distinct unit

in the general time sequence. It is in their treatment of the

diverse cultures and in the integration of these into the main

stream of culture development in North America that the authors

have made their greatest contribution. While regional specialists

will no doubt take violent exceptions to some statements, general-

izations, and interpretations, it is this reviewer's opinion that the

broad cultural and chronological picture will not have to be dras-

BOOK REVIEWS 317

tically retouched. At the end of each regional treatment, the

main sources of information are listed so that the serious student

may, if he wishes, follow up in greater detail the facts relating

to specific cultures and ascertain how these facts were manipulated

by the authors.

The volume is divided into eight parts as follows: Back-

ground, Arts and Industries, The Earliest Indians, The South-

west, Eastern North America, The Pacific Slope, The Far North,

and Conclusion. There are, in addition, a glossary of technical

terms not defined in the text, a comprehensive bibliography, and

a good index. The illustrations range from only fair to adequate

from the technical standpoint, which in part is probably due to

publication difficulties of the times. However, one wishes that

the authors had been able to illustrate each cultural complex more

fully, although the obstacles in the course of assembling such

illustrative material are fully realized.

Under Background, archaeology is defined, the methods and

techniques of gathering evidence are explained, and the ways of

arriving at a time sequence are described. Here, too, the authors

deal with the origin of the American Indians, pointing out that

they are a Mongoloid people who came into America across Ber-

ing Strait some 20,000 years ago after the way had been opened

by the retreat of the glaciers. The section is closed by exposing

a number of popular fallacies for the purpose of "erasing them

from people's minds."

There are chapters on the use of stone, copper, bone and shell,

pottery, and textiles, and the extent of trade and commerce in such

materials. This part on Arts and Industries is very sketchy on

the whole and loses some of the value it might have had if given

more attention. For example, on page 30, the statement is made

that "after several chips of suitable size and thickness for arrow-

heads have been split off with a hammerstone, the next process

consists in secondary flaking by means of pressure fracture or

pressure chipping." It is more likely that most flint objects were

roughed out first by direct percussion techniques and then finished

by pressure flaking. While the process of pressure flaking is

described fairly adequately in the text, the illustration (Fig. 5,

B) is very misleading. The average reader may be left with

318 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

the impression that little skill or craftsmanship was involved in

flint working. Contrary to the authors' assertion, conical drills

were used to drill holes from one side only. The writers should

have mentioned the possibility that many "caches" of flint objects

were probably ceremonial offerings and not storehouses of un-

finished pieces. Neither has it been established that all "banner-

stones, boatstones, butterflystones, pick-shaped objects, and so-

called 'problematical' objects" are atlatl or spear-thrower weights.

The archaeologist is surprised to learn that "shell objects of one

kind or another are more commonly recovered from ancient house-

sites and graves than are any other articles."

In Part III the writers outline the facts relating to early man

in America, choosing the Folsom and Cochise cultures for detailed

treatment. The Folsom hunters, coeval with extinct mammals

(10,000-13,000 years ago) in the High Plains area may have

moved around 2000 B.C., for Folsom-like points are found

throughout the eastern United States. The Boylston fish-weir

at Boston, dating from 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, is good evidence

for the presence of early man in the East. The Cochise people,

partly contemporaneous with the Folsom, were food gatherers

who may have been ancestral to the Mogollon peoples.

Part IV deals with the cultures of the Southwest with em-

phasis placed upon the Anasazi (Basket Maker-Pueblo), Mogol-

lon, and Hohokam peoples. The Anasazi peoples lived in the

"four corners" region from Basket Maker times (100-500 A.D.)

down to the Pueblo V Period (1700 A.D. to the present). This

is one of the most important cultural sequences in North America

because its periods have been dated by the tree-ring method, and

it is possible to trace the evolution of modes of life and customs

from around the beginning of the Christian era down to the mod-

ern pueblo dwellers where it is possible to "catch our archaeology

alive." The Hohokam Indians developed their culture in the desert

area of Arizona from around 300 B.C. (?) down to the historic

period (1400 A.D. to date). They practiced irrigation and may

have been the ancestors of the modern Pima and Papago tribes.

The Mogollon-Mimbres culture may be traced from the Cochise

culture (3000-5000 B.C.) down to around 1450 A.D. in the

BOOK REVIEWS

BOOK REVIEWS 319

southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico region. Areas

peripheral to the Southwest are treated briefly.

Under Eastern North America the cultures of the following

areas are outlined: Northeastern, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin-Min-

nesota, Plains, Ozark Plateau, Middle Southern, Georgia, Florida,

and the Lower Mississippi Valley. The authors first review the

major types of Indians found in the eastern part of the United

States; the long-headed Sylvids and the round-headed Centralids

of the earlier periods, the round-headed and low-vaulted Pacifids

of later times, and the hybrid Prairids of more recent times. The

prehistory of this vast area is considered against the framework

of four generalized chronological stages. The first stage (20,000

B.C. to 500-700 A.D.) concerns the Folsom-Yuma-Cochise-like

culture, whose peoples were pre-agricultural, pre-pottery, and pre-

mound building. These peoples were hunters and gatherers of wild

food products. Here belong the various Archaic cultures of the

East. The second stage (500-900 A.D.) sees the introduction of

agriculture, pottery, and mound building. At this time the corn-

bean-squash complex was introduced from tropical America and

local plants such as sunflowers, ragweed, and gourd were do-

mesticated. Tobacco came into use and was smoked in tubular

pipes. Agriculture made sedentary village life possible and laid

the groundwork for the development of the more complex cul-

tures of later times. The third stage (900-1300 A.D.) was the

period of the great mound and earthwork builders. These were

the people who produced fine artifacts of stone, bone, and copper

and had elaborate burial customs. Trade and commerce were

widespread at this period. Fairly complex social structures existed

which enabled the people to carry on large community projects.

The fourth stage (1300-1700 A.D.) was a period of intensive

agriculture in which pottery reached its highest development in

the South. Flat-topped mounds serving as substructures for

temples or chiefs' houses made their appearance in the South.

Villages were palisaded, with mounds and other structures ar-

ranged with reference to a plaza or central square. The bow and

arrow was the main weapon. Toward the end of this stage the

Southern Death Cult developed with its highly distinctive material

traits.

320 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

In Ohio proper the cultural picture is similar in general to

that in other parts of the eastern United States, although there

are localized variations. The Folsom-like points or fluted blades

of the State seem to fit into the first stage, although little evidence

is yet at hand to define their position. Here too (somewhat later

in time) belongs the large body of material which is similar to the

Indian Knoll complex of Kentucky of the Archaic Period. This

culture remains to be adequately delineated in content, place, and

time. The second stage is represented by the Adena people of

Burial Mound I times who possessed pottery, practiced agricul-

ture, and smoked tobacco in tubes. In Ohio the majority of

mounds seem to pertain to the Adena culture. On typological

grounds it is likely that the Glacial Kame culture dates from this

general time period, although the complex remains to be analyzed.

The third stage, or the Burial Mound II Period, includes the

classic Hopewell culture and perhaps some peoples of late Adena

times (Tremper?). This was the time of the great geometrical

earthworks and hilltop enclosures and of the large ceremonial

offerings of finely made tools and ornaments placed with the

burials. The Hopewell peoples carried on extensive trade and

commerce with their cousins in various sections of the Mississippi

Valley. Their horizons were not limited as were those of other

pre-Columbian Indians in the State. Toward the end of this stage,

Indians of the Intrusive Mound culture also lived in Ohio. They

possessed a culture similar to the Point Peninsula culture of New

York and sometimes buried their dead in Hopewell mounds.

Some elements of this culture may have stemmed from Hopewell

sources, and it is even possible that the two cultures may have

overlapped in time. In the fourth and final stage in Ohio may

be placed the peoples of the Whittlesey and Fort Ancient cultures,

both of these extending up into the Historic Period (ca. 1650).

These people lived in stockaded villages and placed considerable

reliance upon the raising of corn, beans, and other food products.

Although no sites of the Middle Mississippi culture (Temple

Mound) have been recorded for Ohio, there is considerable evi-

dence of influence from that culture in the Fort Ancient culture,

particularly with objects associated with the Southern Death Cult

of late protohistoric times.