Birdstone   Save
Jesse Snodgrass Collection
Description: This birdstone is made of green and gray banded slate. It is flat on the base and the sides curve slightly to form a ridge in the midline along the top. One end was originally shaped to form a stylized head and neck, possibly of a bird, but has since been broken and reshaped to form a small head with no beak. The other end forms a tail, that has straight sides and is flat on top; the tail is now taller than the head. There is a drilled hole at either end of the base, one of which goes through to the base of the tail, the other through to the base of the neck. Although the function of birdstones is unknown, they might have served as highly-decorative spearthrower weights. This piece comes from Glacial Kame Culture. The Glacial Kame people are noted for their emphasis on ceremony, but their daily lives were much like those of other Archaic cultures. They hunted with spears aided by spear throwers. Deer, their major source of meat, also provided antler tines that were made into tools for pressure flaking flint knives and spear points, or into harpoons for fishing. Deer leg bones were cut and ground into sharp-pointed awls for sewing and basket making. Slate and coal from glacial deposits were made into ornaments, perhaps for "everyday" use. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: A0190_000009_1
Subjects: Prehistoric peoples; Effigies;
Places: Jesse Snodgrass Collection