White Tail Deer Antler, 1000 BCE - 450 BCE

Item — Box: 1, Object: 6

Staff Only

Scope and Content:

From the Collection: The Fenner Collection contains prehistoric Native American cultural artifacts, projectile points and knives, and tools. All of these artifacts are aged between the Late Archaic Period (1000 BCE) to the Late Woodland (450 BCE). The items were collected by George Fenner Jr. a former Wilkes Board of Trustees member. Mr. George Fenner most likely took many years to accumulate such a large and extensive artifact collection. Sadly, there seems to be no evidence that Mr. Fenner kept documentation on where he collected the specimens, ultimately decreasing the value of the artifacts. All that we know about where he collected the artifacts is they were collected along the Susquehanna river.

The cultural artifacts are items such as rim shard incised, body shard incised, prehistoric ceramic shards, gorget fragments, neckwear accessories, a portion of a white tail deer antler, non-cultural rocks as well as other unidentified stones. These cultural artifacts such as the pottery shards were a part of a larger pottery piece that was used as cooking vessels, storage vessels, urns, sculptures, ceremonial items as well as other artforms.

The Archaic time period ranged from 11,700 BCE to 4,850 BCE. During this time period, the world was a warm and wet place. Forests were gradually growing deciduous trees and broad-leafed nut bearing trees. During the archaic period, Native American populations increased in a steady manner. The hunters and gatherers of this time period traveled anywhere between 50 to 100 miles to gather up resources such as food to eat, wood for fires, clay for pottery and so on. These hunters and gatherers used tools such as spears and spear throwers, axes for woodworking, net sinkers for fishing and collecting fish, and mortar and pestles for grinding up seeds. The spear heads, axe heads, net sinkers, mortar and pestle, pottery and more from this time period can all be found within this collection donated by George Fenner.

The other period of time this collection covers is the Woodland period, this ranges from 1,000 BCE to 1,550 CE. Early to Middle Woodland saw a warm and wet climate, but as time moved on to the Late Woodland period the ice age started to begin. It was here, the late woodland, that the population of the Native Americans reached an all time high. After this time period, the Native American population started to decrease. During the early to middle Woodland period hunting and fishing continued to be the predominant source of food, but using mortars and pestles in this time period provides evidence that the production of flour began during the Woodland period. In the late Woodland period, Native Americans continued to hunt and fish, however they increasingly depended on domesticated plants, such as corn, beans and squash as additional food sources. It was at this time that Native Americans began to garden and grow their own food. Indigenous tribes established a trade network between Ohio and Pennsylvania. This trade network, which is now referred to by archeologists as the Hopewell Interaction Sphere, spanned from the Gulf of Mexico to Yellowstone National Park and towards the Delaware Bay. Archaeologists believe that a variety of Native American tribes belonged to the Hopewell tradition, and collected artifacts from thousands of kilometers away. The implication is that many prehistoric Native American cultures traveled great distances and interacted with each other. The artifacts provide us a glimpse into this interaction sphere. The Late Woodland tools can be seen in this collection as well.

The projectiles points in this collection include Otter Creek Points, Normanskill Points, Lecroy Skill Points, Port Marthland Points, Jack's Reef Pentagonal Points, Jack’s Reef Corner-Notched Points, Side Notched Projectile Points, Corner Notched Projectile Points, Broken Corner Notched Projectile Points, Non-Diagnostic Points and Rhyolite Points. These projectile points were used for a handful of different uses such as the points on the end of a spear for hunting or lances. These projectile points were also used as knives as well as dart spears, throwing spears, and a small hand held throwing stick called an atlatl. The tools in this collection include Side Notched Net Sinkers, Flaked Stone, Debitage, Scrapers, Hammerstone (Untyped), and Drilled Rocks. The artifacts within box 4 are Flint, Drills (Whole and Broken), Scrapers and Bifaces (Untyped), Knives (Untyped), Flat Piece of Sandstone (Net Sinker?), Flaked Stone, Black Chert, a small mortar and pestle and a large mortar and pestle, and a bunch of broken and intact axe heads.

All of these items in the collection were crucial to the survival of prehistoric Native Americans in the Pennsylvania and mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Tools such as the net sinkers were attached to fishing nets so that the net would sink to the bottom along with the fish that it would trap. This systematic tool allowed Native Americans to catch more fish. Hammerstones were used to produce other tools such as the flaked stones that were then used for producing projectile points and knives. Although the provenience for these prehistoric Native American artifacts is lost because Mr. Fenner did not document the exact locations for where he removed these artifacts, we are still able to determine the general time periods in which these artifacts were used and their possible functions. Many items were used for hunting and fishing, collecting wood, and making shelter, while the cultural artifacts were used for pottery/aesthetic purposes.

From the Collection: References:

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/intriguing-interactions/

http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/archaeology/native-american/time-periods.html

http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/archaeology/native-american/archaic-period.html