Hey Everyone,
Today I want to write to you all about my favorite piece of jewellery. Don’t worry this blog is still about archaeology and history, because my favorite piece of jewellery is also my favorite artifact ever.
My favorite piece is my necklace. It holds a special place in my heart. Ask Mika about the time I lost my necklace during a rafting trip with her parents and would not leave the rest point until we found it. It only took 2 hours.
I will never forget the day Grandpa T bought it for me. My family was on a summer road trip to the lower western area of the USA. You know: Arizona, Utah, Texas, that area. While we were at the Grand Canyon, Grandpa T has some time off and flew down to meet us.
While the parents took a rest day, Grandpa T took me to the Tusayan Ruins and Museum. My parents only had two rules for us: stay close to Grandpa T and no more souvenirs. We might have broken both of those rules. Sorry mom!
Tusayan is the ruins of an 800 year old Puebloan village that had, maybe, 30 people living in. The ruins may have been Puebloan, but the museum covered a lot of archaeology and history of the Grand Canyon.
One exhibit in that dimly lit room caught my eye. In a case, with viewing glass on all four sides, floating in the air on straight black rods (like archaeology lolly pops), were these little animal shaped figurines. I started to read the plaques:
“Paleo-Indians: About 10 000 years ago a hunter sat near the Colorado River chipping a spear point…” OK, a background about the time period.
“Archaic Culture: They had been found in caves not used for living purposes…” OK, a quote from one of the archaeologists.
“Archaic Culture: Two to four thousand years ago, people fashioned animal figurines from split twigs…” Yes, here it is! I can finally find out what the figurines are called. And, no! They didn’t give the name.
With no warning to Grandpa T, I flew out of the room to the front desk. But the Ranger there was busy with other people. I remember I saw another Ranger outside and went there to track her down.
“The figures?” I asked her out of breath, “The animal figure artifacts. What are they called?”
At first, she looked at me not understand. So, I started making weird hand gestures, interlocking my fingers together and twisting them. For some reason, that made it click as to what I was talking about.
“Oh, the split-twig figurines…” She started, only to be interrupted by Grandpa T finding us with that look on his face. You know that look. Every child has gotten that look. The one that says: ‘You broke the rule. I am mad, but not that mad.’ So, I meekly thanked her and went back in.
When I explained to Grandpa T why I left, and showed him the display case, he just laughed. Next thing I know, Grandpa T is the owner of a book on the archaeology of the Grand Canyon that is reading to me bits and pieces about the artifacts on display. And I am the owner of my very own Split-Twig Figurine necklace.
I don’t know why I fell in love with these little figurines: maybe it was because I love animals, or maybe because they were so old but looks like they were made just yesterday. Either way, I did fall in love, and I had to learn all I could about them.
So here it is. And I hope you are as fascinated by these Split-Twig figures as I am.
________________________
Split-Twig Figurines are very well named. Really, the name tells you exactly what you are getting. A figuring made by splitting a long, thin branch of willow or shunkbush (I hope THAT name isn’t telling you exactly what you are getting). They took the now split branch and twist the pieces around each other into the shape of an animal. As I said, the name says it all; which may be why it was never named on the display plaques, now that I think about it.
These figurines were made between 2 000 to 4 000 years ago in Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California by the ancestors of the Anasazi.
What I love about these figurines, besides the fact that I find them very beautiful, is they are a great example of what an artifact can tell us about a site or a people.
Let us look at the archaeology evidence and make some deductions… like Sherlock Holmes.
Arch Evidence: Over 400 split-twig figurines were found on 30 different sites scattered around Arizona,
Utah, Nevada, and California.
Deduction: Other states in the south west of the United States have similar archaeology sites located
in dry hot caves. If we are not finding split-twig figurines in those sites, it shows us that
on the 30 sites they were found they at shared a community link of some kind. Maybe
these figures are showing us the boarders of a group’s territory.
Arch Evidence: There appears to be two categories of split-twig figurines found. One category was found
in sites that were known to be villages or camps; the other category was found in caves.
The first category is a simple figurine, most are in the shape of a four legged animal; there
is one unique one in the shape of a duck that I will talk about later. These simple
figurines are found in areas where archaeological evidence shows where people lived.
So, villages or camps.
The second category of figurines often have other elements added to the figure: a
second branch ‘piercing’ the figure like an arrow or spear, and/or animal poop hidden
inside the figurine. These split-twig artifacts are found only in the Grand Canyon. They
are the ones discovered in really hard to get to caves, buried in little stone shrines.
Deduction: The split-twig figurines found in the Grand Canyon are mostly older than the other
first category. We know this because of carbon 14 dating. They are most likely magic
or religious symbols used by the people in the areas either to identify their tribe (this is
called a totem), or to help them in an upcoming hunt. That could be why some of
the artifacts have a ‘spear’ through them.
The figurines found in living places were most likely toys for children. This idea is
supported because a few split-twig figures were found in the grave of a child. One of
the figurines found in the grave was the odd duck one I mentioned earlier. See what I
did there? Odd duck… because it was in the shape of a duck… and it’s the only duck
shaped figurine archaeologists have found… so it is odd… get it? Odd duck?
Okay moving on.
You see how much we can learn? If you can get that much information from one type of artifact on an archaeology site, imagine what kinds of stories you can tell when you look at the whole assemblage.
This is why I love archaeology: you build a story about an event, a place, a person, or a people from the little pieces of history that are left behind.
Another thing I find fascinating: Grandpa T has always used the phrase ‘Publish or Perish’ when he talks about his work at the University. Before this trip I didn’t really understand what he meant. But I think I might now have an idea.
You see, when you read the history of split-twig figurines they always say that they were first discovered in 1933 by a Civilian Conservation Corps trail crew working in the Grand Canyon. This was the first recorded discovery, but it is not the first discovery.
The first split-twig figurine was actually found by an archaeologist by the name of Henry Roberts in 1930 when he was digging at a site called Cottonwood Cave in Utah. So why is he not the one credited with the first discovery?
Because he didn’t publish his finds until 1969.
1969!
It took him 39 years to publish what he found. How many other figurines had been found in that 39 years? I don’t know, but I am sure it was a lot.
Grandpa T is right: ‘Publish or Perish.’
________________________
Well that is it. I hope you learned a little about one of my favorite artifacts of all time, split-twig figurines.
If you are ever at the Grand Canyon area you really should visit the Tusayan Ruins and Museum. The figurines are only one of many artifacts that the museum has on display, and the Park Rangers give an amazing tour of the ruins. The Rangers could even answer questions Grandpa T had, that was impressive; more so then their ability to decipher my weird hand charade.
I also want to thank the National Park Service for letting me use their pictures. I was much younger when Grandpa T and I explored the Grand Canyon, and my pictures show it. They were no good.
Thank you so much for reading. I look forward to seeing you again with another amazing story of archaeology or history.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Sources
Coulam, Nancy J and Alan R Schroedl. Late Archaic Totemism in the Grater American Southwest. American Antiquity, January 2004 (Vol 69). Pg 41-62
David, C. Alan, R.E. Taylor, and Gerald A Smith. New Radiocarbon Determinations from Newberry Cave. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology (Vol 3[1]). Pg 144-147
Jett, Stephen C. Split-Twig Figurines, Early Maize, and a Child Burial in East-Central Utah. Utah Archaeology, 1991. Pg 23-31
Ribokas, Bob. Slot Twig Figurines. Grand Canyon Explorer. 1994-2000
<https://www.kaibab.org/kaibab.org/history/gc_stf.htm>
Sutherland, A. Tusayan Pueblo Ruins And Split Twig Figurines Tell Story Of People Who Once Inhabited the Grand Canyon. AncientPages.com. November 13 2018
Archeology at the Grand Canyon – Split Twig Figuines. June 26 2017
<http://thegrandcanyonvisitor.com/archeology-grand-canyon-split-twig-figurines/>
Photos were taken from National Park Service website. You can visit them at <https://www.nps.gov/index.htm>
Or visit the National Park Gallery photo repository at
​