Sometimes amazing things come in old boxes. Unfortunately, those old boxes are not usually archival to best preserve the items inside. As I have been re-housing some of our older collections, I have come across so many amazing things and want to share them with you!

This summer our volunteers in the archaeology lab helped the staff process artifacts owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This involved repackaging artifacts in archival materials, cataloging and labeling artifacts, and archiving paper records and photos. These collections are from sites in North Dakota located on federal U.S. Fish and Wildlife lands.

Some of the pottery sherds in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife collection from Sargent County are net impressed. This means that the potter used a net to finish the outer surface of the vessel. If you look closely, you can see impressions of the knots and diamond-shape pattern made by cords on the sherds. This is not something we see every day, so it was very exciting when Fern Swenson, our division director (and a ceramicist) confirmed that these were indeed impressed with a net!

Net impressed sherds from site 32SA211 (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Collection, 2015A.30.1370, 2015A.30.1210, 2015A.30.1207, 2015A.30.1206, 2015A.30.1191)

We also cataloged two barbed fishing spears from the Irvin Nelson site (32BE208) near Devils Lake in Benson County. These are likely made out of bison bone and are the first that I have seen. But as I would find out a few weeks later, these aren’t the only fishing spear tips in North Dakota’s archaeology collections.

While going through a box that was part of an older, privately donated collection, I was excited to find another bone fishing spear tip! This tip is from a site in Burleigh County.

Bone barbed fishing spear tips from 32BE208--left and center (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Collection, 2015A.19.21, 2015A.30.20) and 32BL4--far right (SHSND A&HP, 1739)

Another item in the same box worth mentioning is a tchung-kee stone made out of a rock that has been pecked and ground into a smooth doughnut shape. It was broken in half at some point in the past, but the pieces still refit together.

Tchung-kee stone (SHSND A&HP 1736)

These stones were used to play a competitive game of skill. You can see artist George Catlin’s 1832 painting of Mandan people playing tchung-kee at americanart.si.edu/artwork/tchung-kee-mandan-game-played-ring-and-pole-4407. The next time you visit the North Dakota Heritage Center & Museum, take a look at a scene based on Catlin’s painting in the cyclorama of Double Ditch village in the Innovation: Early Peoples Gallery.

Illustration of people playing tchung-kee at Double Ditch Village (SHSND, original art by Rob Evans)

Speaking of Double Ditch, I also came across two unique artifacts from that site. This projectile point with notched edges is very thin and skillfully made.

Projectile point with notched edges from Double Ditch Village (32BL8) (SHSND A&HP, 4607)

Another artifact is this ceramic effigy node—an animal-shaped piece of clay that was part of a pottery rim. The rim sherd is also cord-impressed--a cord or thin rope was pressed into the wet clay to make a pattern or design.

Two views of the animal effigy node on a pottery sherd from Double Ditch Indian Village State Historic Site (32BL8) (SHSND A&HP, 4488)

The last old box that I inventoried contained a shell pendant. North Dakota’s Chief Archaeologist Paul Picha identified it as a “money cowrie” shell (Monetaria moneta), which likely came from Africa. These were used as trade goods during the 18th century fur trade.

A “money cowrie” shell pendant from 32MO29 (SHSND A&HP 13629.X)

This week has been the week of atlatl weights (and that is not something most archaeologists get to say). In the same collection as the shell pendant, I found an atlatl weight. These are beautifully made, but not very common– they usually trump anything else on our “Find of the Day” board in the lab. Yesterday, a volunteer who is helping re-house a privately donated collection found the second atlatl weight of that week.

The “Find of the Day” board in the archaeology lab is a fun way to find outwhat interesting things have been seen in the lab recently. If you ever are on a tour of the archaeology lab, be sure to notice what is listed on the board.I If the artifact is still in the lab, we will be happy to show it to you! (SHSND)

Atlatl weights, the bottom weight is from 32MO29 (SHSND A&HP 13629.Z), the top weight is from 32MO37 (SHSND A&HP 1986.226.7595)

Atlatls were used to launch darts in North Dakota before the bow and arrow--from Paleoindian times through the Woodland Period. Weights were attached to atlatls to provide additional stability and balance.

This hunter is preparing to throw his dart by fitting it to his atlatl. A stone weight is attached to this atlatl with a sinew cord (SHSND, illustration by Meagan Schoenfelder)

We have hundreds of boxes to re-house over the next few years, so I will share more with you from my expeditions to our collections storage rooms!

“So what is your favorite artifact?”

It’s something I almost always get asked on tours. I am terrible at making up my mind. And I feel slightly guilty having favorites. (Sarah in Archives knows this, too—see her blog about her favorite things). But I must confess…there are objects that I think are especially cool. Here are a few of them.

I like groundstone artifacts. Groundstone objects or tools are made by grinding or pecking away at the stone material until you achieve the desired shape. It takes time and skill to make something this way. I find grooved axes to be amazing. This axe comes from Barnes County, ND.

Grooved axe from Barnes County (2015.56, Koch Collection)

Another stunning axe is from a site in Emmons County (32EM104). This axe is made from a light-colored quartzite material. If you visit the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum, this axe is on display in the case next to the cyclorama in the Innovation Gallery: Early Peoples.

Quartzite grooved axe from site 32EM104 (80.59.1)

This groundstone bird effigy was a surprise to me when I pulled it out of a box I was inventorying. It wasn’t listed on the old box label—but to me it was definitely worth mentioning! I haven’t seen any other bird effigies made of groundstone in the ND archaeology collections. It reminds me of a grouse. What kind of bird do you think it is? It was found in Stutsman County in the 1930s. I wish I could tell you more about it, but very little information was recorded about where it was found, otherwise known as its context.

Groundstone bird effigy from Stuttsman County (5050)
Maybe the stone bird is a grouse? What do you think?

Now for something that isn’t groundstone. This clay pipe bowl clutched in the talons of an eagle is also among my top favorite artifacts. It is from the 19th century site of Fort Rice (32MO102), south of Mandan.

Bird talon pipe bowl from Fort Rice (32MO102) (14657)

Sometimes I like an object because of the small details, like the lily pad motif on this spoon handle. The back of the handle is marked “Sterling Triple” and was most likely originally silver-plated. It is from the former town of Winona, ND (32EM211).

Detail of the decoration on a spoon handle from Winona, ND (32EM211) (2010.106.767)

The next artifact is astonishing simply because it has survived. And it has survived a lot over the last 400 years or so: surviving the outdoor elements, being excavated, transported, and stored for years in less-than-ideal materials. In 2015 and 2016, excavation projects were undertaken by the Paleo Cultural Research Group (PCRG) at Chief Looking’s Village/Ward (32BL3) in Bismarck. During the project, Mark Mitchell, Ph.D., the project lead, mentioned basketry that had been found at the site in the 1930s when the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) excavated there. Curious, I browsed through the CCC artifacts in our collection when I returned to the lab. Sure enough--there were basketry fragments!

Basketry from Chief Looking’s Village (32BL3) (Unaccessioned, no artifact number)

We know people in North Dakota used basketry in the past, but it is rare to find basketry that survives in an archaeological context in North Dakota—the climate and soils here do not usually preserve the plant materials from which baskets are made. Chief Looking’s Village/Ward was occupied during 16th century, making these basket fragments very old. (If you are interested in the recent excavation projects at Chief Looking’s Village, Thunder Revolution Studios and the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation have released a video about the 2016 excavation).

The last item is the paddlefish skull in the faunal comparative collection. We use the faunal collection to compare known animals (in this case, a paddlefish) to bone artifacts. Being able to identify what kind of animal a bone came from tells us about what animals people were hunting, eating, using, or living with and what the environment was like in the past. The paddlefish has a stunning snout (called a rostrum). I think it is a total work of art! It is an intricate lacey mesh of bone. Before I saw this skull I just thought of paddlefish as a funny looking type of fish. But now I can’t help but look at them a little differently. If you ever tour the archaeology lab at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum -- be sure to ask to see the amazing paddlefish skull—we will be happy to show it to you!

Paddlefish skull from the archaeological faunal comparative collection

A close-up view of the paddlefish rostrum

The amazing paddlefish!

For the past year, I have been cataloging collections that we curate for the U.S. Forest Service. One of my favorite collections comprised a time capsule buried by a resident of Slope County in 1941 and discovered by archaeologists in 2005. So that has me thinking - if you made a time capsule, what would you put in it? Where would you put it? What would you want people in the future to know?

In 2005, a U.S. Forest Service employee inspecting Forest Service land in Slope County found historic objects stashed inside a rock shelter. The artifacts included a sealed J.R. Watkins bottle containing a note dated 1941.

The J.R. Watkins bottle that contained the map (2012A.94.3)

The employee notified a Forest Service archaeologist so the finds could be documented, mapped, photographed.¹

As an archaeologist myself, I can tell you that it is pretty unusual to find a map accompanying any artifacts you discover. But that is exactly what the Forest Service archaeologists found. The note inside the bottle included a hand-drawn map with instructions to a “grand burial” that “bears treasure.”²

Detail of the map (2012A.94.2)

And the map did lead archaeologist to the “treasure”. But this wasn’t Hollywood-style pirate treasure—no silver, no gold, no pieces-of-eight. It was treasure of a different kind—an informal time capsule. The “grand burial” consisted of several bottles, a jar, and a metal lunch box that had been buried in the ground by a local man.

The capsules (from left to right): a liquor bottle, an Atlas E-Z seal canning jar, a J.R. Watkins bottle, an unlabeled bottle, and a metal lunch box (left to right 2012A.76.54, 55, 53, 56, 59)

It included photos and negatives, magazine clippings, handwritten notes, and small objects including popcorn seeds, candy, cigarettes, matches, and election campaign pins.

Calvin Coolidge (left) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (right) election campaign pins (2012A.76.90 & 91)

What would you want people who found your time capsule to know about you? Harold Foreman buried the time capsules between January and March, 1941.³ We know his personal details from the notes that he wrote and buried with the objects in the containers. Harold was twenty-seven years old when he buried the objects. He and his wife Pauline lived with his parents in Slope County, ND.⁴ Harold was the oldest of nine siblings.⁵

Would you write about current news? When Harold buried his capsules, the United States had not yet entered World War II. But the war was progressing elsewhere in the world, and Harold followed what was going on. He wrote about wondering who will win and hoped that the Lend-Lease bill proposed to send aid to Great Britain will pass U.S. Congress.⁶

Would you want people to know what technology is like? What transportation is like? Harold enclosed magazine clippings of cars, trucks, tractors, and trains.

Case tractors advertisement (2012A.76.21)

My favorite clipping is a glamorous full page color (complete with silver foil!) advertisement for a Streamliner railcar.

Advertisement for Pullman-Standard Streamliners (2012A.76.52)

Harold listed vehicles owned by family members. In 1941, Harold drove a 1927 Chrysler sedan that needed repair.⁷ His brothers Warren and Denver owned a motorcycle.⁸ Harold put two spark plugs in the metal lunch box capsule.

Champion spark plugs (2012A.76.111-112)

Would you write about your dreams for the future? Would you write about your life experiences and adventures? Harold wrote that he planned on going to California to take up detective work.⁹ Perhaps with this in mind, Harold decided to include a piece of paper containing his own fingerprints.

Harold Foreman’s fingerprints (2012A.76.29)

Another object is an “old pocket watch” that traveled with Harold “through the States”.¹⁰ On the back of the watch are visible fingerprints—do these belong to Harold?

Close-up of pocket watch with visible finger prints. Do these fingerprints belong to Harold? Did this watch go with Harold on his trip to visit his grandmother in Missouri? (2012A.76.89)

He described a trip he and his wife took through several states to visit his grandmother in Missouri.¹¹ He even included a letter written to him by his eighty two-year-old grandmother.¹²

Envelope containing letter from Harold’s grandmother in Missouri (2012A.76.37)

Would you include pictures? Harold included photo negatives with scenes from North Dakota including badlands near Waterford City, a wheat field, and a burning coal mine near Ranger.

Butte in badlands near Watford City (2012A.76.72)

Would you include a photo of yourself? Would it be serious? An action shot? Or maybe a funny photo? Harold included a photo of himself making muscle arms and a funny face.

Close-up of Harold Foreman posing (2012A.76.68)

Would you want to know who finds your capsule? Harold wanted to know. He even offered a reward if the finder contacted him.¹³ But Harold wasn’t sure how long it would take for someone to find it, so just in case he was no longer living in North Dakota, he left a list of friends and relatives to contact.¹⁴ U.S. Forest Service archaeologist Mervin Floodman did look for Harold.

Unfortunately, Harold died in a car accident in the Pacific Northwest in 1972.¹⁵ However, Floodman was able to contact his youngest brother, Howard, in 2006. Howard did not know about the time capsule that his older brother had buried.¹⁶ But on one of Harold’s notes, there is a doodle Howard made when he was only six.

Detail of house doodle by Howard, Harold’s youngest brother (2012A.76.5)

It is rare for an artifact collection to provide details about one individual’s life. That is what makes the Foreman time capsule so intriguing. What would you want someone in the future to know about you?

Special thanks to the U.S. Forest Service for permission to write about their collection. Special thanks as well to photo archivist Sharon Silengo and volunteer Robert Porter in Archives for their enthusiastic expertise in scanning the photos and negatives.

---

¹Floodman, p. 1-3
²2012A.94.2
³2012A.76.8-9, 23-24, 31-34, .36, .40; 2012A.94.2
⁴2012A.76.2; 2012A.76.8; 2012A.76.36; 2012A.76.7; 2012A.76.8
⁵2012A.76.25
⁶2012A.76.8
⁷2012A.76.4
⁸2012A.76.4
⁹2012A.76.7
¹⁰2012A.76.36
¹¹2012A.76.2
¹²2012A.76.2
¹³2012A.76.26
¹⁴2012A.76.26
¹⁵Floodman p. 26
¹⁶Floodman p. 25, 26

In the archaeology lab, we’ve recently had a lot of bags, boxes, and artifacts on the tables. These artifacts are from the site of the first Fort Berthold (32ML2, Fort Berthold I).

Fort Berthold I was a trading post located on the north side of Like-A-Fishhook Village (for more on Like-A-Fishhook, see previous posts at blog.statemuseum.nd.gov/blog/adventures-archaeology-collections-fishhook-village and blog.statemuseum.nd.gov/blog/adventures-archaeology-collections-fishhook-village-part-ii). This trading post was built around 1845 and was used until the early 1860s. This site, like the adjacent village of Like-A-Fishhook, was flooded by the Garrison Dam and was partially excavated by archaeologists in the 1950s as part of the River Basin Surveys. The site is now under Lake Sakakawea.

David Nix, one of our volunteers, has just finished photographing more than 1,700 artifacts from Fort Berthold I. We are now busy working with other volunteers (special thanks to Sandra, Mavis, Mary, and Gary) to transfer the artifacts from brown paper bags and bubble wrap into acid-free, archival storage materials.

Work in progress: sorting artifacts out of old non-archival storage materials

Repackaged boxes of artifacts

It is exciting to see some artifacts that are not common in the archaeology collections. North Dakota does not have a climate that preserves materials like plants, wood, or leather very well. But a few of those materials do survive in this collection!

There are shoes, shoes, and more shoes—as well as boots and overshoes—in parts, pieces, and even nearly complete examples. They come in many different shapes and sizes.

A small selection of the footwear from Fort Berthold I (12711.3, 1285, 1345-1346, 1427, 1745-1746, &1828, photos by David Nix– edited SHSND)

It is far more normal to see belt buckles by themselves in North Dakota’s archaeology collections than buckles with leather belts still attached.

Metal buckles are not uncommon in the archaeology collections, though not all are as fancy as this military buckle plate (12711.1541, photo by David Nix– edited SHSND)

A buckle with part of the leather belt still attached (12711.836, photo by David Nix– edited SHSND)

Two felt caps with decorative fringe are really interesting.

Felt caps (12711.251 & 761, photos by David Nix – edited SHSND)

A carefully braided fragment of delicate sweetgrass is also in the collection.

Braided sweetgrass (12711.612)

Here is part of a sewn birch bark object—you can see the holes where this piece was stitched.

Sewn birch bark (12711.1366, photo by David Nix– edited SHSND)

There are other canteen stoppers in the archaeology collections, but this is the first canteen stopper that I have seen with the cork still attached.

A canteen cork (12711.152, photo by David Nix– edited SHSND)

Less fragile, but not less interesting, is a flute made from a gun barrel. This is one of my favorite objects from Fort Berthold I. I wonder who made this and what kind of story is behind it. There is no mouth piece with it now. Did it ever have one? Was this a toy or a real instrument? If it was a real instrument, what did it sound like?

Gun barrel flute (12711.300)

What do you see in this photo? (click photo to see larger image)

Objects from a bag originally labelled “miscellaneous metal” (former 2010.99.3029

On the surface, it is a random pile of metal. But these aren’t just miscellaneous items, even though the bag they were stored in was originally labeled “miscellaneous metal”! They are artifacts that add to the story of a site. They are evidence of the things people used and the activities in which they participated. These are objects that were utilized, stored, discarded, lost, or left by people who lived at, worked at, or passed through Fort Rice (32MO102).

Part of the fun in sorting a bag of small parts and pieces is figuring out what they are—discovering that the pieces are part of something. Let’s take a closer look at a few of the items in that pile.

This plain-looking piece of metal is a tobacco twist or plug tag.

The artifact: a tobacco twist tag (2010.99.7493)

Both tobacco plugs and twists were used for pipe smoking or as chewing tobacco. Tobacco twists are formed by rolling and twisting tobacco leaves into a tight rope-like form. Cut blocks of pressed tobacco are called plugs. The tags were attached to the twists by a long prong while plug tags were attached with two short prongs. The tags were used to identify the tobacco brand. Any trace of a logo or decoration has worn off of this tag. Most tobacco tags were colorful like this more intact example from the site of Fort Berthold I.

An example: a tobacco twist tag from Fort Berthold I fort site (12711.144)

Some artifacts are only small parts of a larger object—like this item. It is a bolster (an end piece) from a pocket knife.

The part: a pocket knife bolster (2010.99.7477)

Examples: almost complete pocket knives from Fort Rice. See where the bolsters fit? (2010.99.6179 & 2010.99.6187, photos by Doug Wurtz & David Nix – edited SHSND)

These odd looking fragments are pieces of friction primers used to ignite the gun powder in artillery.

Parts: friction primer fragments (2010.99.7480, photo by Doug Wurtz – edited SHSND)

Examples: more complete friction primers also from Fort Rice (1987.85.98-99)

These are pieces of military insignia. There are at least three different types of hat insignia and what appears to be part of a regiment number or company letter in this group.

Parts: military insignia fragments (2010.99.7487)

Example: a complete cavalry hat insignia for an enlisted man, from Fort Rice (12003.2445, photo by Doug Wurtz – edited SHSND)

Example: a Model 1858 dress hat (Hardee hat) pin from Fort Rice (2010.99.6132, photo by Doug Wurtz – edited SHSND)

Example: an enlisted man’s cavalry dress helmet insignia from Fort Rice (2010.99.6144, photo by Doug Wurtz –edited SHSND)

This is part of a shoulder scale turnkey or button base.

The part: a button or turnkey base from a shoulder scale (2010.99.7488)

Shoulder scales (a type of epaulet sometimes called brass scales, or metallic scales) were used as part of military uniform and were worn on the shoulders. The turnkey helped attach the main part of the shoulder scale to the rest of the uniform. Shoulder scales are made from many distinct pieces.

Example: a complete turnkey or button from a shoulder scale from Fort Rice (2010.99.3493)

Example: attachment parts for a shoulder scale, right- the attachment pieces, middle - how the attachment pieces fit together, right – how the turnkey looks when fit attached to the complete shoulder scale (all pieces from Fort Rice)

Of course there are many other items visible in the first photo. Other artifacts so far identified in this group of objects include pieces of lead shot, a thumb tack, buckles, buttons, pencil leads, rivets, bell fragments, pocket watch parts, and even part of an earring! Two non-metal items were found in same bag as well. If you are up to the challenge, see if you can find the light blue glass bead and abalone shell fragment in the first photo! I’ll post the answer below.

How do you identify things you don’t recognize? I’ve had a lot of help identifying these and other objects. Asking other people is a good start--other staff at the historical society (museum, archives, education, paleontology, archaeology and historic preservation staff, even custodial staff), researchers, as well as volunteers and members of the public have all helped me. Online sources can also be helpful—like research blogs, re-enactment discussions, and museum websites. And of course, it is still hard to beat a really good book when looking for information (for instance, The U.S. Army in the West, 1870-1880 by Douglas C. McChristian was very helpful with many of the objects in this post).

Did you find the glass bead and piece of shell in the first photo?

So many projects have been going on all at once that it was too hard to pick just one for the blog. So instead, let’s look at a variety of projects.

One of the projects that I am working on involves processing (labeling, rebagging, photographing as needed, and cataloging) a federally-owned archaeology collection stored here.

Work in progress.

This project involves many different sites. It also includes many types of objects--ranging from historic artifacts like glass bottles to bone tools, flaking debris, and projectile points.

Projectile points from the U.S. Forest Service collections (2012A.166.13, 2012A.166.7, and 2012A.116.1)

We are also still working on the cataloging project for artifacts from Like-A-Fishhook village (32ML2).  My favorite object that we have seen recently is probably this little toy canoe.

Left: Metal toy canoe from Like-A-Fishhook village, a view from the top (12003.1719).
Right: Metal toy canoe from Like-A-Fishhook village, a view from the side (12003.1719).

It is so perfectly shaped. We also recently found a dragon! Well, a metal dragon, at any rate. It is a sideplate from a gun. Another dragon sideplate can be seen on a percussion rifle on display in the Innovation Gallery: Early Peoples at the State Museum.

Left: A metal dragon side plate from a gun from Like-A-Fishhook village (12003.1908).
Right: A .625 caliber Northwest trade gun made by Isaac Hollis & Sons with a dragon sideplate on display at the State Museum (1982.93).

My supervisor and I also made a poster for a national archaeology conference this past month.  The conference was too far away to attend in person (it was in Orlando), but at least the poster could go to sunny Florida! It was for a session that gave museums an opportunity to share what kind of collections they have available for study. Archaeology collections are meant to be researched, so this was a great opportunity to share with students and archaeologists what North Dakota has to offer. North Dakota really does have amazing archaeology, so it was fun to find pictures of objects for the poster—from Paleoindian projectiles to Woodland pottery to seeds from village sites to gun parts and glass beads from trading and military forts. A lot of work from many people went into this poster. We used photos of artifacts from the Like-A-Fishhook project as well as photos taken by volunteer David Nix (see Wendi’s blog about Dave and his work at http://blog.statemuseum.nd.gov/blog/mission-possible).  We also coordinated with Brian Austin who works on graphic design for the agency—he finalized and printed the final product for us.

A small preview of what our poster for the Society for American Archaeology conference looked like.

Speaking of researchers, it has been fun having a researcher working in the archaeology lab for a few weeks. This researcher is an archaeologist who is examining historic bottles from Fort Rice (32MO102) as part of her master’s thesis.

A researcher studying glass bottles from Fort Rice.

We have a sizeable collection of glass and ceramic bottles and bottle fragments from this site. It will be exciting to see what her final project looks like and interesting to learn more about life at Fort Rice.