cheryl claassen | Appalachian State University (original) (raw)
Papers by cheryl claassen
American Antiquity, Apr 10, 2019
Reviewed by Cheryl Claassen, Appalachian State University Carolyn Boyd, with Kim Cox, along with ... more Reviewed by Cheryl Claassen, Appalachian State University Carolyn Boyd, with Kim Cox, along with a team of technicians and helpers, has established that the painted panel in the White Shaman rockshelter in Langtry, Texas, expresses a creation story. This panel is 8 m long and covers the wall to the height of 4 m (requiring scaffolding when painted). Each of the 42 anthropomorphs, six zoomorphs, and 69 enigmatic shapes was given a code number. Analysis employed portable X-ray fluorescence, lidar, structure from motion, DStretch and digital field photography, a Dino-Lite Pro handheld microscope, and mapping with total station; painting sequences were rendered in a Harris matrix. Four samples of black pigment averaged 2000 BP. This date is surprisingly late, and it suggests a 3,000-year period for the Pecos Riverstyle images. Stylistic analysis also places some elements in a more recent phase of Pecos River-style paintings. Four paint colors were used, always applied in exactly the same sequence: black, then red, then yellow, then white. Boyd argues that this panel depicts an Uto-Aztecan creation story, based in part on the apparent shared symbolism of these colors: red-east, fire, masculine, sun, Morning Star; black-west, underworld, wet season, night, female, stars; yellowsouth, dawn, dry season; and white-moon, north, sacrifice. Chapter 3 is a lesson in how to read texts such as this one using formal feature analysis, iconographic analysis, and structural analysis. Chapters 2 and 4 present background for the archaeology of the region and that of Mesoamerican core concepts. In Chapter 5, first selected motifs are isolated and described, and then hypotheses are formulated using a Wixarika (Huichol) perspective, specifically the creation of peyote,
Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, 1975
Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft, 2016
Southeastern Archaeology, May 17, 2018
ABSTRACT Busycon discs, barrels, rings, and columellas, Leptoxis and Prunum shell beads, and ston... more ABSTRACT Busycon discs, barrels, rings, and columellas, Leptoxis and Prunum shell beads, and stone and coal beads from Webb and Moore excavations at Indian Knoll (15OH2) are discussed in this paper as the author seeks to determine how beads were deployed to convey social information during the Archaic period. After wrestling with the count of beads (ca. 27,337) and the number of burials (ca. 260) with beads, the types of beads are tallied and measurements given based on the author’s examination of beads. The presence and distribution of beads in the shell-bearing stratum and the hardpan, and their distribution among women, men, and subadults, are explored. The beads appear to have been assembled rather than manufactured as sets. An argument is made that shell beads were used at Indian Knoll as regalia for members of and victims of a hunt god/spirit cult. Leptoxis sashes are identified in 36 burials and discussed as regalia. Bead co-occurrence with atlatls, faunal species, and violent death is examined as part of the hypothesized cult rituals.
The fundamental question for shell ornaments in North America is why use marine shell? Shell has ... more The fundamental question for shell ornaments in North America is why use marine shell? Shell has birth, rejuvenation, impregnation and adoption symbolism, all related to birth and beginnings. The impact of the use of various bivalve and gastropod species on their respective populations was negligible. In this paper I will address the most fundamental of questions: why people of North America wanted and valued shells? Secondarily, why did people of the interior use freshwater and marine shells differently? Did these ritual and symbolic uses of shells negatively impact the molluscan species? Mesoamerican and US native beliefs give us some clues to the first question. Key words: Shell symbolism, pre-Columbian symbolism, pre-Columbian North America
Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Aug 29, 2016
An abundance of points, flakes, bones, shells, and bodies is considered sufficient to raise the h... more An abundance of points, flakes, bones, shells, and bodies is considered sufficient to raise the hypothesis that these offerings and their places constitute a type of fertility shrine. This paper documents several possible lithic and bone-offering places in eastern North America, among them Allumettes Island, Quebec; Tick Creek Cave, Missouri; James Creek, West Virginia; and Pen Point, South Carolina. Perhaps the most significant Late Archaic shrine marked by an abundance of points, deer bones, and human burials is Indian Knoll, Kentucky. The proposed fertility or increase rite practiced was that for a hunt god.
World Archaeology, Sep 1, 2011
... conversations in Spanish, participation in the rites and travel on the roads in 2010 (Fig. 1)... more ... conversations in Spanish, participation in the rites and travel on the roads in 2010 (Fig. 1). View larger version(184K), Figure 1 Trails and roads discussed in text (drawn by AndiCochran). Context for ritual landscape in northern Guerrero. ...
Berghahn Books, Mar 3, 2021
Historical Archaeology, Jun 1, 1994
Mussels gleaned fromthe rivers of the Mississippi watershed have supported two important industri... more Mussels gleaned fromthe rivers of the Mississippi watershed have supported two important industries and provided millions of dollars of income to land-based and river-based men and women since the 186Os. This volume is a book about the historic uses of freshwater bivalves from rivers of the Mississippi watershed, for pearls and buttons. Collecting freshwater pearls was the impetus for harvesting shellfish from 1860 to 1900 with the revenue for a single pearl often being in the thousands of dollars. Pearl rushes on a river created a boom-town-like atmosphere and attracted local, as well as out-of-state, musselers and buyers. Proceeds from pearls brought to many individuals instant fortune and have a heretofore unacknowledged role in the capitalization of rural America in the period prior to 1930. Pearl revenue exceeded that of all other natural product industries combined, excepting timber, in many areas. Most important of the commercial uses of riverine shellfish was the production of buttons from 1891 until approximately 1950. It is this industry that is the focus of this monograph. Shell buttons were made of both pearly ocean and freshwater shell for centuries in Europe before being manufactured in the Northeast United States beginning in the 1850s. The United States product, based on an imported material, had a hard time competing with the European product, and the industry was dying out in 1890. John Boepple, an immigrant
American Antiquity, Apr 1, 2000
Mason et al. recently revived a debate as to the suitability of shell weights or shell MNI, with ... more Mason et al. recently revived a debate as to the suitability of shell weights or shell MNI, with several interesting points. Among the points they raised are two with which I take exception: that MNI is always better than weight, and that relative percentages are the analytical tool of choice.
Humans, Mar 24, 2023
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Elsevier eBooks, 1981
Publisher Summary This chapter discusses experimentation with modern materials. It explains the v... more Publisher Summary This chapter discusses experimentation with modern materials. It explains the validity and necessity of using modern materials for experimental studies in archaeology. If experimentation is to develop into an important analytical tool for archaeologists, several assumptions about its utility must change and the scope of the situations in which experimentation is thought appropriate must widen. There are no archaeological problems, whether the concern is with natural processes or cultural processes that cannot be better understood by a well-executed experiment. It experimentation is to develop into its potential as an analytical tool, and then archaeologists must free themselves of the notions of adherence to the ethnographic record. Another advantage in using modern materials in experimentation is that the properties of most industry-produced materials are known or knowable and, thus, offer a better chance at understanding the interaction that is observed.
Southeastern Archaeology, Oct 12, 2018
In the papers assembled here, five scholars focus on shell beads at site, watershed, and regional... more In the papers assembled here, five scholars focus on shell beads at site, watershed, and regional scales. Themes include manufacturing techniques such as bore size discussions, changes in bead preferences over time and geography, the appearance of beaded regalia, and shell bead meaning. Claassen's paper addresses the beads at Late Archaic Indian Knoll; Connaway discusses
World Archaeology, Sep 1, 2000
ABSTRACT Homophobia has a long, sad but obscure history in the Western world and in the world of ... more ABSTRACT Homophobia has a long, sad but obscure history in the Western world and in the world of archaeology. In this paper I argue that homophobia was responsible for women choosing not to go into archaeology in large numbers until at least 1950. While homophobia is no longer successful in keeping women out of archaeology, it continues to have an impact on the discipline in education, network building, and mentoring.
NWSA journal, Apr 1, 1998
World Archaeology, Jun 1, 2013
ABSTRACT A database of 480 Archaic-aged babies buried in twenty-one sites in the Ohio Valley was ... more ABSTRACT A database of 480 Archaic-aged babies buried in twenty-one sites in the Ohio Valley was divided into fetuses, newborns and infants 2 months to 24 months old in order to examine potential differential treatment of the three classes of babies. Most of these babies died between 7000 and 3500 years ago. Burials were examined for single or group interment and types of grave goods. Unlike other papers investigating infants, this research is not directed at social status of parents but rather at the evidence for ritual killings of babies (n = 55) and for infanticide (n = 16). In so doing it has also been possible to offer observations on adultery killings of women and other treatments of mothers. The only significant difference between Middle Archaic and Late Archaic treatment of newborns and older infants was the greater inclusion of both age groups in multiple graves during the Late Archaic.
American Antiquity, Apr 10, 2019
Reviewed by Cheryl Claassen, Appalachian State University Carolyn Boyd, with Kim Cox, along with ... more Reviewed by Cheryl Claassen, Appalachian State University Carolyn Boyd, with Kim Cox, along with a team of technicians and helpers, has established that the painted panel in the White Shaman rockshelter in Langtry, Texas, expresses a creation story. This panel is 8 m long and covers the wall to the height of 4 m (requiring scaffolding when painted). Each of the 42 anthropomorphs, six zoomorphs, and 69 enigmatic shapes was given a code number. Analysis employed portable X-ray fluorescence, lidar, structure from motion, DStretch and digital field photography, a Dino-Lite Pro handheld microscope, and mapping with total station; painting sequences were rendered in a Harris matrix. Four samples of black pigment averaged 2000 BP. This date is surprisingly late, and it suggests a 3,000-year period for the Pecos Riverstyle images. Stylistic analysis also places some elements in a more recent phase of Pecos River-style paintings. Four paint colors were used, always applied in exactly the same sequence: black, then red, then yellow, then white. Boyd argues that this panel depicts an Uto-Aztecan creation story, based in part on the apparent shared symbolism of these colors: red-east, fire, masculine, sun, Morning Star; black-west, underworld, wet season, night, female, stars; yellowsouth, dawn, dry season; and white-moon, north, sacrifice. Chapter 3 is a lesson in how to read texts such as this one using formal feature analysis, iconographic analysis, and structural analysis. Chapters 2 and 4 present background for the archaeology of the region and that of Mesoamerican core concepts. In Chapter 5, first selected motifs are isolated and described, and then hypotheses are formulated using a Wixarika (Huichol) perspective, specifically the creation of peyote,
Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, 1975
Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft, 2016
Southeastern Archaeology, May 17, 2018
ABSTRACT Busycon discs, barrels, rings, and columellas, Leptoxis and Prunum shell beads, and ston... more ABSTRACT Busycon discs, barrels, rings, and columellas, Leptoxis and Prunum shell beads, and stone and coal beads from Webb and Moore excavations at Indian Knoll (15OH2) are discussed in this paper as the author seeks to determine how beads were deployed to convey social information during the Archaic period. After wrestling with the count of beads (ca. 27,337) and the number of burials (ca. 260) with beads, the types of beads are tallied and measurements given based on the author’s examination of beads. The presence and distribution of beads in the shell-bearing stratum and the hardpan, and their distribution among women, men, and subadults, are explored. The beads appear to have been assembled rather than manufactured as sets. An argument is made that shell beads were used at Indian Knoll as regalia for members of and victims of a hunt god/spirit cult. Leptoxis sashes are identified in 36 burials and discussed as regalia. Bead co-occurrence with atlatls, faunal species, and violent death is examined as part of the hypothesized cult rituals.
The fundamental question for shell ornaments in North America is why use marine shell? Shell has ... more The fundamental question for shell ornaments in North America is why use marine shell? Shell has birth, rejuvenation, impregnation and adoption symbolism, all related to birth and beginnings. The impact of the use of various bivalve and gastropod species on their respective populations was negligible. In this paper I will address the most fundamental of questions: why people of North America wanted and valued shells? Secondarily, why did people of the interior use freshwater and marine shells differently? Did these ritual and symbolic uses of shells negatively impact the molluscan species? Mesoamerican and US native beliefs give us some clues to the first question. Key words: Shell symbolism, pre-Columbian symbolism, pre-Columbian North America
Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Aug 29, 2016
An abundance of points, flakes, bones, shells, and bodies is considered sufficient to raise the h... more An abundance of points, flakes, bones, shells, and bodies is considered sufficient to raise the hypothesis that these offerings and their places constitute a type of fertility shrine. This paper documents several possible lithic and bone-offering places in eastern North America, among them Allumettes Island, Quebec; Tick Creek Cave, Missouri; James Creek, West Virginia; and Pen Point, South Carolina. Perhaps the most significant Late Archaic shrine marked by an abundance of points, deer bones, and human burials is Indian Knoll, Kentucky. The proposed fertility or increase rite practiced was that for a hunt god.
World Archaeology, Sep 1, 2011
... conversations in Spanish, participation in the rites and travel on the roads in 2010 (Fig. 1)... more ... conversations in Spanish, participation in the rites and travel on the roads in 2010 (Fig. 1). View larger version(184K), Figure 1 Trails and roads discussed in text (drawn by AndiCochran). Context for ritual landscape in northern Guerrero. ...
Berghahn Books, Mar 3, 2021
Historical Archaeology, Jun 1, 1994
Mussels gleaned fromthe rivers of the Mississippi watershed have supported two important industri... more Mussels gleaned fromthe rivers of the Mississippi watershed have supported two important industries and provided millions of dollars of income to land-based and river-based men and women since the 186Os. This volume is a book about the historic uses of freshwater bivalves from rivers of the Mississippi watershed, for pearls and buttons. Collecting freshwater pearls was the impetus for harvesting shellfish from 1860 to 1900 with the revenue for a single pearl often being in the thousands of dollars. Pearl rushes on a river created a boom-town-like atmosphere and attracted local, as well as out-of-state, musselers and buyers. Proceeds from pearls brought to many individuals instant fortune and have a heretofore unacknowledged role in the capitalization of rural America in the period prior to 1930. Pearl revenue exceeded that of all other natural product industries combined, excepting timber, in many areas. Most important of the commercial uses of riverine shellfish was the production of buttons from 1891 until approximately 1950. It is this industry that is the focus of this monograph. Shell buttons were made of both pearly ocean and freshwater shell for centuries in Europe before being manufactured in the Northeast United States beginning in the 1850s. The United States product, based on an imported material, had a hard time competing with the European product, and the industry was dying out in 1890. John Boepple, an immigrant
American Antiquity, Apr 1, 2000
Mason et al. recently revived a debate as to the suitability of shell weights or shell MNI, with ... more Mason et al. recently revived a debate as to the suitability of shell weights or shell MNI, with several interesting points. Among the points they raised are two with which I take exception: that MNI is always better than weight, and that relative percentages are the analytical tool of choice.
Humans, Mar 24, 2023
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Elsevier eBooks, 1981
Publisher Summary This chapter discusses experimentation with modern materials. It explains the v... more Publisher Summary This chapter discusses experimentation with modern materials. It explains the validity and necessity of using modern materials for experimental studies in archaeology. If experimentation is to develop into an important analytical tool for archaeologists, several assumptions about its utility must change and the scope of the situations in which experimentation is thought appropriate must widen. There are no archaeological problems, whether the concern is with natural processes or cultural processes that cannot be better understood by a well-executed experiment. It experimentation is to develop into its potential as an analytical tool, and then archaeologists must free themselves of the notions of adherence to the ethnographic record. Another advantage in using modern materials in experimentation is that the properties of most industry-produced materials are known or knowable and, thus, offer a better chance at understanding the interaction that is observed.
Southeastern Archaeology, Oct 12, 2018
In the papers assembled here, five scholars focus on shell beads at site, watershed, and regional... more In the papers assembled here, five scholars focus on shell beads at site, watershed, and regional scales. Themes include manufacturing techniques such as bore size discussions, changes in bead preferences over time and geography, the appearance of beaded regalia, and shell bead meaning. Claassen's paper addresses the beads at Late Archaic Indian Knoll; Connaway discusses
World Archaeology, Sep 1, 2000
ABSTRACT Homophobia has a long, sad but obscure history in the Western world and in the world of ... more ABSTRACT Homophobia has a long, sad but obscure history in the Western world and in the world of archaeology. In this paper I argue that homophobia was responsible for women choosing not to go into archaeology in large numbers until at least 1950. While homophobia is no longer successful in keeping women out of archaeology, it continues to have an impact on the discipline in education, network building, and mentoring.
NWSA journal, Apr 1, 1998
World Archaeology, Jun 1, 2013
ABSTRACT A database of 480 Archaic-aged babies buried in twenty-one sites in the Ohio Valley was ... more ABSTRACT A database of 480 Archaic-aged babies buried in twenty-one sites in the Ohio Valley was divided into fetuses, newborns and infants 2 months to 24 months old in order to examine potential differential treatment of the three classes of babies. Most of these babies died between 7000 and 3500 years ago. Burials were examined for single or group interment and types of grave goods. Unlike other papers investigating infants, this research is not directed at social status of parents but rather at the evidence for ritual killings of babies (n = 55) and for infanticide (n = 16). In so doing it has also been possible to offer observations on adultery killings of women and other treatments of mothers. The only significant difference between Middle Archaic and Late Archaic treatment of newborns and older infants was the greater inclusion of both age groups in multiple graves during the Late Archaic.