Arrowhead Folklore in the Post-Contact Era

[painshill]

As well as my travels abroad, I’ve also been catching up with places in the UK that I haven’t visited or don’t visit often enough. That included a trip to my favourite museum of all time… the Museum of Oxford, which has a separate housing for the Pitt Rivers collection. I’ll put up more information on a future thread to give you a feel for why it’s my favourite museum but, in the meantime…

We all know about arrowheads as weaponry, but don’t talk too much about their cultural significance in other ways. These exhibits in the museum are accompanied by contemporary labels which give some insights into what “modern Indians” (at least in some areas) believed about stone arrowheads.

There seems to have been a kind of “re-invention” of the folklore of lithic arrowheads in later post-contact times, after stone arrowheads fell into dis-use and probably many Indians had never made one or even seen one being made. The re-invention seems to be a mixture of long-standing oral mythology with “lost history” post-rationalisation and the injection of European folklore.



Tsi phe di – “Black Arrowheads”. Although the Indians know that arrowheads were made for actual use, they also look on them as mysterious, & say that they are found where lightning strikes. Tewa Indians, New Mexico, USA. Donated by Miss B. Frere - Marecco 1911.




“Cloud arrow-points” said (1) to fall where lightning strikes & (2) to be thrown away by the clouds. Tewa Indians, Hano, Arizona, USA. Donated by Miss B. Frere - Marecco 1911.




Arrowhead ‘Kwasahina’ found by modern Indians on surface & attributed to a mythical culture-hero, or to lightening “not made by man but of olden times”. Twenty years ago these Indians used stone arrowheads and still make them occasionally. Mohave Apache Arizona. Donated by Miss B. Freire - Marecco (016) 1911.


There were several other exhibits with contemporary collection labels from the early 1900’s which told similar stories. I find this very interesting… particularly since most European countries also have traditional folklore beliefs dating back at least to mediaeval times concerning associations between arrowheads and lightning… both in terms of their supernatural origin and their power as amulets.


In Europe, until the 18^th Century, prehistoric flint and other stone arrowheads, spearheads, and even axes were popularly believed to be natural objects rather than having been made by ancient people. They were closely associated with folklore and believed by most to have formed in storm clouds and fallen to the ground where lightning had struck. They were known as “ceraunia” (from the Latin for “thunderbolt”) or “thunderstones” (“donnersteins” in German, or “pierres de foudre” in French).




“Pietra del fulmins” or “saetta”. Charm against lightning. Italy – Belluci collection.

[painshill]

Stone arrowheads were also loosely grouped with fossil shark teeth (not recognised as such until 1611, by the Italian naturalist Fabio Colonna), claimed by Pliny the Elder (AD 23 – AD 79) as having fell from the sky during lunar eclipses. In mediaeval times that belief was modified to assigning them as the petrified tongues of dragons and snakes. They were known as “glossopetrae” (Latin for “tongue stones”) and regarded as a remedy for, or amulet against, snake bites and other toxins. In the same way, ceraunia were regarded as protection against lightning strikes and carried as personal amulets or included in the walls or foundations of buildings from mediaeval times through to the 18^th Century.

I mused on that latter possibility in relation to the “Solutrean-style” blade found during the excavation of a 17^th Century colonial homestead on Eppes island, Virginia and variously described as having been found “beneath a fireplace” or “below a clay chimney.” Might it have been placed there by the builders of the homestead for lightning protection? Particularly since it’s the chimney which would be most vulnerable to a strike. Either way, Dennis Stanford elected to exclude that point from his evidence base in “Across Atlantic Ice” – presumably because it has disputable provenience.

In addition to similar beliefs about ceraunia across virtually every European country, the picture is the same in almost all of Asia and Africa. The notion of thunderstones coming from the sky via lightning existed in China, Japan and the Guinea Coast; the secondary beliefs relating to their magical properties are also remarkably similar across much of the globe. There are however some notable exceptions, such as the South Sea Islands and Australia, where no such folklore existed. In the case of the Americas, there are only a few scattered reports of such beliefs and they are generally in a form which suggests that the beliefs were not indigenous to either North or South America. The likelihood is that such stories were introduced to the natives by European immigrants (especially by the Spanish and Portuguese in South and Central America). Aboriginal people in both North and South America generally have an older tradition which associates thunder with a large “thunder-bird.”

Even scholars did not begin to recognise the possibility that such items were man-made until the 16^th Century. The change in thinking was a pivotal event in the history of prehistoric archaeology. The first rumblings to challenge the origin of cenauria came from European explorers – particularly in the New World. It was previously widely held that the weapons of ancient people would have been made from iron, but those early explorers observed native people using stone. Jean de Léry wrote in 1578 that the natives of Brazil used “sharpstones as knives.” In the 17^th Century René Goulaine de Laudonnière wrote that the Indians of Florida used arrows pointed with the teeth of fish or finely worked stones; John Smith noted that the Sasquesahanock of Virginia used bows and arrows in their hunting and warfare, and that their arrows were made from sprigs of wood or reeds headed with “splinters of a white cristall-like stone, in forme of a heart, an inch broad, and an inch and a halfe or more long” and “in the place of metal swords they used the horn of a deer inserted into a piece of wood like a pickaxe and they made hatchets by forcing a long stone sharpened at both ends through a wooden handle”; Roger Williams noted that the Indians of New England used “a variety of stone implements in the place of metal knives, awls, hatchets, or hoes.”

The credit for the change in thinking in Europe should probably go to the 16^th Century Italian Michele Mercati. He was superintendent of the Vatican Botanical Garden and had access to the Vatican’s huge covert collection of natural history and geology, within which there were many ceraunia specimens. Unfortunately, his massive geological treatise “Metallotheca” which was completed in 1593 didn’t get published until long after his death in 1717, but it contains a lengthy and highly original discussion of ceraunia. In particular, he says: “Many people believe they are thrown to the ground by lightning, but those who know history think that in early times before iron was used to make weapons people made blades and arrowheads of hard flint.”

[Kentucky point]

Sir, I've been wanting to thank you for a long time now! Thank you for all of the wonderful threads in the information section!

I'm Ethan, contest man now, and new member since last year. Like I said, thanks for the great info.

[painshill]

You're welcome my friend... but the Information Centre represents a lot of hard work from a number of people. I was proud to be a part of making it happen.

[Ron Kelley]

Hey Roger, Thanks for that. I had no idea that it took people so long to recognise the use of stone tools. I guess I assumed that people always knew.

[Olden]

Interesting (and surprising), reminds me of the myths that were created about who the builders of the mounds were.

[tomclark]

Wow that is great stuff! Love those lightning amulets.

[SDhunter]

Interesting that somehow, that information wasn’t passed along to the next generations. Thanks for sharing that Roger!

[painshill]

I think that the systematic eradication of the bison, the destruction of traditional ways of life, movement of people onto reservations and a number of other factors also created a cultural vacuum between the 'old' and the 'new' that was filled by re-invention of mythology. Some of that re-invention came from Europeans asking 'leading' questions that were coloured by their own beliefs. There were also 'do-gooders' who were keen to document native practices for ethnological research reasons before that knowledge was lost forever. Often they did so by interviewing elderly 'informants' from various tribes and there are obvious instances of informants spinning yarns that embellished the truth, feeding what they thought the Europeans wanted to hear, or sometimes just being plain mischievous.

I can't find the reference at the moment, but there's a lovely story about an antiquarian/anthropologist interviewing a chief and seeking his knowledge on the ritual purpose of a long polished cylindrical stone artefact with tapering rounded ends that he had found. It was actually a relatively modern settler's sharpening stone for sickle blades, but the chief told him with a completely straight face that his people used such items for alleviating the constipation that often arose from a diet high in acorns.

[utilized flake]

I'm old friends with a Navajo Native who holds artifacts and ummm says that he knows what kind of animal that it brought down...i wanted to test him and hand him a serrated Kirk and ask what this was shot at, but alas I felt it would be a disrespectful moment. His father was a code talker in WW2...pretty neat! What I did like was that he told me growing up his elders had taught him that the horned toad left arrowheads/artifacts out at night. I love how animals are many times brought into folklore

[Sage hen jack]

Well there’s European the Stone Age .Bronze Age, Early Iron age weaponry and so on that was happening on other Continents. Interesting historical insight you share on the European Folk lore surrounding it all. The Indian Arrowhead Jewelry pendants from Europe are interesting. We’re they given the Lightning’ title by makers? I’ve seen silver Navajo Jewelry pendants that incorporated Arrowheads. There’s been museums over there for Centuries. North America along with Stone use. North America had it’s Copper Culture Tools And weapons thing going on over here during those periods. The Early French,Dutch,Portuguese,English and Nordic and possibly even Chinese explores brought Iron weapons and tools to trade. They knew Natives were armed with Stone spears,Hatches and such. No mystery there. In 1500-1600s they knew Stone Age Man still Existed -And they understood it -and a stone spear or knife or arrowhead was what it was. Now As far as Arrowheads and American Indian beliefs and sacred mythology surrounding Arrowheads. American Indians held traditions of reverence for the life after. I’m guessing NA in historical times when they came across Ancestral an artifact they probably often acknowledged it with guarded reverence for the Dead/Spirit world from above and below. Believing a Speckled Point fell from the Sky is a reasonable response considering their beliefs and Customs. Native Burial grounds are Sacred and I have always felt should be left alone, but Archeologists have recovered Arrowheads buried with remains in burial sites. Arrowheads like many objects and Animals/ stones etc in NA Culture held spiritual significance. The Karok, Yurok And Shasta CA tribes and I’m sure few others held Dances with Massive Obsidian knife Blades 12”-20” in length. According to Native Traditions. The only time they would be un-wrapped was for Ceremony. Much NA Culture has unfortunately been lost. The Sacred plains tribal Sun Dance was nearly lost after the Tribes were forced onto Reservations. But the Shoshone secretly kept it going, and shared with elders from other tribes and the very sacred ceremony has continued. No doubt pre historic man held spiritual significance to objects as well. The rare ‘Fire Opal’ Arrowhead on display for years at the Faval’ Museum In Klamath Oregon surely was considered special. I’m sure old Copper culture items and other earlier period artifacts found by later people’s were often cherished and held spiritual stories and significance. There exists old wax cylinder recordings of Ishi’ telling mythical stories of Animals and Woven Creation myths for hours on end. The Book The ‘Old North Trail’ is full of first hand Elder Blackfoot myths and stories. European influence on native culture and Conceptions play a part. Especially the systematic attempt to erase it. I have a period 1900’ photo of a non Native Man Standing behind his sitting Ojibway wife in front of their Tipi lodge. Lake and canoe in background. The woman is holding their Baby in Cradle. I think the Man received the best of that cultural exchange! One of my favorite pics. warms my heart to see NA Culture ,Stories and Lore continued on by Elders.

[tomf]

Loving this thread.

Thanks.

As Painskill mentions, there were some contemporary accounts by ethnologists that shed some light on this transitional phase.

Stephen Powers was one who wrote about California Indians in the 1870s.

Observations he made included the fact that the making of lithic tools were fast becoming a lost art, and ancient points that were discovered were venerated.

Also he tells of spiritual lore associated with materials - particularly obsidian.

There is a story that , for some tribes, there would be a special 'doctor' who's role was to select and designate obsidian stock.

Apparently, certain obsidians were considered poisonous and reserved for special purposes (murder?) while others had other specific uses.

So the lithic doctor would sit at the quarry as spalls were made and declare their use...this one for deer, this one for bear, this one for man etc.


Power's work is more than fallible but these first hand re-tellings might be reliable.


Another important point, he mentions, that seems relevant and is confirmed beyond doubt, is the universal custom amongst California Indians that the dead are never to be mentioned and certainly not by name.

It seems to me, that this would play a crucial role in inhibiting technological progress in general and, perhaps, a deeper understanding of one's own history.

It's remarkable how stable/static conditions remained for long, long periods of time - thousands of years to transition from one form of mortar to another.

Perhaps the taboo on talking of the dead contributed to this phenomenon?