Bird stones, beaver jaw, beer bottle unearthed in dig

BY BRIAN WILLIAMS                                                                                 July 1, 2005
The Times

KOUTS | No freshness date on this beer bottle. Too ancient for that.

Still, the intact, circa 1880s Miller's bottle with the name embossed in the glass, one of the discoveries unearthed during this summer's archaeological dig along the banks of the Kankakee River, is positively brand new compared to some of the finds.

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Led by University of Notre Dame anthropology professor Mark Schurr, the team of volunteer diggers unearthed thousands of artifacts during the three-week dig that ends Saturday.

The oldest and perhaps most fascinating finds were pieces of "bird stones," which Schurr roughly dated between 2000 and 1000 B.C. The stones, carved in the shape of a bird's head, were used as counterweights on the end of a short stick used to fling meter long darts.

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The stones seem to have been both decorative and functional, Schurr said. The beak may have hooked on to the small spear and the eyes were probably used to hook a leather strap around, so the thrower wouldn't lose his flinging stick, Schurr said.

Schurr called the find "pretty exciting," as he is not aware of other such finds in northern Indiana.

The stones move the date of the earliest finds at the site back about 1,000 years, said Schurr, who directed a preliminary excavation last year.

The team also found an ornamental "tinkling cone" or "tinkler," a one-inch piece of sheet brass wrapped in a cone shape that American Indians hung from leather fringes to decorate clothing.

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The cone probably dates from the early 1800s, Schurr said, and provides confirmation that Potawatomi tribes were at the location, known as Potawatomi Ford on the earliest maps.

A shard of pottery with distinctive scratch marks and holes probably dated to 500 B.C., Schurr said, while the rusted iron frame of a suspension oil lantern was probably about 110 years old.

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Among the more curious finds was a beaver jaw -- not so unusual in itself but odd in its location: a roasting pit.

The discoveries will be organized and catalogued in a database at Notre Dame. Then analysis will begin. To date many of the items more precisely, Schurr will compare them to other finds and perhaps perform radio carbon dating on them.

Ideally, Schurr said, many of the artifacts could eventually find a home next door, when the 1898 hunting lodge on the site is restored and turned into a museum.

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Schurr and his teams might be back next summer, depending on funding. With only 2 percent of the 900-square-foot site excavated, there is definitely more to find, he said.