Artifacts recently recovered from ATIAHARA #4
After finding two complete adzes I intensified my search and found many other artifacts, the more important of which are shown below
This artifact appears to be a Reel made from sea urchin spine, shown above at close to actual size, this is the first reel recovered of any type. When I picked it up about 65 meters from the road at the start of the midden deposits, I wasn't so sure that it was anything at all, however it seemed very well formed, the ends very flat. Once I got it clean I could clearly see holes in each end, by forcing water into these tiny holes I discovered that its entire length had been pierced, the holes seem rather irregularly shaped suggesting perhaps that fileing was employed as well as drilling.
Two small pearl-shell Fishhook Blanks, click this file (17reverse5.html) to see a small hook that may derive from similar blanks
This pearl-shell Fishhook fragment derives from the shank of a largish hook, of particural interest is the finely detailed line attachment device, we see a pointed knob and small pointed head as well as clearly defined inside step... this form is a very important early type... see the large Huahine example (Emory 1979, Fig 8.13) as well as stone hooks on Easter Island
(Heyerdahl 1965, Fig. 104, Stone fishhook fragments example b)
A pearl-shell Fishhook point leg, the sharp angle in the bend of this fragment singles it out to be a rare type, no complete example of this type has ever been found.
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Artifact INDEX - Vol. 17 - Vol. 18 - Vol. 25
