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Fellow members, Would anyone know the value of an AUTHENTIC Monolithic " slave killer " club from Gunther Island, Ca.? I have the history, provenance, and all ex-collectors names associated with the artifact. Apparently the photos I have are to large to post in the forum, but I have photos in my store, RAVENS RELICS, at www.aaartifacts.com. Thanks!
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Why is this being called a Monolithic "Slave Killer" Club?
This is what I normally think as that type
Jack
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Greywolf, I really don't know, except all the examples I've seen, either in research articles or auction formats, that's what they are usually called. Is there another more specific or technical name? Thanks.
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I would call that a Monolithic axe. In Charles Miles book, Indian and Eskimo Artifacts, page 148, pic. 6.18 -and- 6.19 are four examples of what I have, all being called " slave killers". Actually, in photo 6.19 is one example, EXACTLY like the one I have, with the cremation residue visible in the middle of the artifact.
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__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __pkfrey wrote:
Greywolf, I really don't know, except all the examples I've seen, either in research articles or auction formats, that's what they are usually called. Is there another more specific or technical name? Thanks.
This is what I found.
The Slave Killer
A Columbia River prehistoric "Slave Killer" club represents a stylized wolf carved in quartzite. Stone clubs from this region date to the pre-contact period prior to the 18th Century, and may well have been carved many hundreds of years before the earliest contact with Europeans.
It is not certain what the precise usage was, but the term "Slave Killer" was used since the 18th Century to describe a club of similar configuration which was used by chiefs of certain Pacific Northwest Coast tribes to kill a slave at a ceremony, as a demonstration of power and extravagance.
The club is inscribed with "Clatsop County, Oregon," reportedly by a museum.
Provenance: Deaccessioned from a museum in Texas. The Foundation for Cultural Preservation, Palo Alto, Ca.
Literature: cf. Charles Miles, Indian -and- Eskimo Artifactsof North America, New York, 1986, P. 148, Fig. 6.19. Ralph Coe, Sacred Circles: Two Thousand Years of North American Indian Art, London, 1976, P. 70, Fig. 50.
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Monolithic axes, like the one you have, are Mississippian, and generally are known from southeastern sites, Tenn./Ala/Georgia, etc. The Monolithic "slave killer" type are restricted to the west coast, and north into British Columbia.
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Thanks for the infomation. It is a very interesting.pkfrey wrote:
Monolithic axes, like the one you have, are Mississippian, and generally are known from southeastern sites, Tenn./Ala/Georgia, etc. The Monolithic "slave killer" type are restricted to the west coast, and north into British Columbia.
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Here's a photo showing 2 different forms from the Columbia River Basin.
The artifact in the middle is just a pick.
Regards
Mike
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