Dig It!⁠

Welcome to the Way-Way Back Machine. Today we are going to examine an artifact known as a “Bird Stone”. This particular “Bird” is 5“ long and about 2“ high. It is made from banded slate and, despite its streamlined, Modernist aesthetic, is at least 3,000 years old, from the late Archaic Period. Pretty unbelievable!

This bird stone is from Marion County, Ohio. It was collected in the early 20th century and has excellent provenance, which is extremely important when collecting these birds, because many of the ones floating around are fake. There is a group of "Bird Stone Experts", who decides which are real and which are not. I would be very hesitant to purchase any of these early stones unless it is thoroughly checked out, and has really good provenance. These stones are not inexpensive. Good ones can run in the tens of thousands of dollars. Some could be over a hundred thousand. ⁠

For my first year in graduate school, I was very lucky to have the eminent archaeologist, Dr. James B. Griffin, as a professor. During the 1920s and 1930s, Dr. Griffin did a survey of archaeological sites of the Mississippi Valley. One time, he was told to check out some old farmer who knew a lot about sites in the area. When he went to visit them, he found the whole family in the barn grinding out fake, Archaic-style banner stones. Make no mistake, the faking of American Indian artifacts has been going on for a long time. ⁠

Now back to Bird Stones…they have a fairly wide distribution around the Great Lakes, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan, with some as far east as New York and Pennsylvania, and certainly up into Canada. They are assumed to be weights and charms for atlatls, which are a type of stick used to throw spears with increased force. These miniature pieces of sculpture have what they called “Monumentality” in Art History class. The great Modern Art sculptor, Constantin Brancusi admired and was inspired by these masterpieces of Late Archaic art.⁠

Well Fellow Seeker, I have probably overwhelmed you with all this information, I know I have overwhelmed myself. Seek Out!⁠

Dig It - 5/5/22