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Suggested Use of Clam Shells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Douglas Leechman
Douglas Leechman*
Affiliation:
National Museum Ottawa, Canada
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Extract

Clam shells, particularly species of Elliptio, considerably worn from use, were found by the late W. J. Wintemberg in a number of comparatively recent archaeological sites in Ontario, such as Roebuck, Lawson, Uren, and Sidey-Mackay. He suggested that some of these had been used as knives, as scrapers, and as tools for shaping pottery vessels.

Among the specimens collected were several which showed attrition in the middle of the longer side, as shown in Figure 26. Wintemberg was apparently unable to suggest to what use these might have been put.

The following extract from Memoirs of Odd Adventures, Strange Deliverances, etc. in the Captivity of John Giles,Esq.…may afford an explanation: “To dry corn when in the milk, they gather it in large kettles and boil it on the ears, till it is pretty hard, then shell it from the cob with clam-shells, and dry it on bark in the sun.“

Type
Facts and Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , July 1949 , pp. 56
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1949

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References

GILES, JOHN 1869. Memoirs of Odd Adventures, Strange Deliverances, etc. in the Captivity of John Giles, Esq…;. Written by himself. Cincinnati: Spiller and Gates, Printers, 168 Vine Street. (Originally published at Boston, 1736. Printed for William Dodge.)Google Scholar
WINTEMBERG, W. J. 1908. “The Use of Shells by the Ontario Indians.” Archaeological Report, Ontario Department of Education for 1907. Toronto.Google Scholar
WINTEMBERG, W. J. 1928. “Uren Prehistoric Village Site, Oxford County, Ontario.” Bulletin, National Museum of Canada, No. 51. Ottawa.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WINTEMBERG, W. J. 1936. “Roebuck Prehistoric Village Site, Grenville County, Ontario.” Bulletin, National Museum of Canada, No. 83. Ottawa.Google Scholar
WINTEMBERG, W. J. 1939. “Lawson Prehistoric Village Site, Middlesex County, Ontario.” Bulletin, National Museum of Canada, No. 94. Ottawa.Google Scholar
WINTEMBERG, W. J. 1946. “The Sidey-Mackay Village Site.” American Antiquity, Vol. 11, pp. 154–82;Google Scholar
WINTEMBERG, W. J. 1948. “The Middleport Prehistoric Village Site.” Bulletin, National Museum of Canada, No. 109. Ottawa.Google Scholar