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Contexts in source publication

Context 1

... are four fragments of gun barrels in the collec- tion. These were examined by Michael Drooker who took measurements and made observations based on his knowledge of firearms and questions submitted by others in our research group. We are indebted to Michael for his careful observations. Two fragments are breech sections which measure 39 and 49 cm long. The bore (barrel) measurements of English guns are always measured in caliber (hundredths of an inch). The shorter breech section has a bore of approxi- mately .51 inches (remember, these heavily corroded iron artifacts were not cleaned) while the longer breech section bore measures approximately .53 inches. A 28 cm barrel fragment and a 7 cm barrel fragment measure approximately .57 inches in bore size. The large barrel fragments were later X-rayed by Eric Steg- maier, Senior Conservation Assistant, Yale Center for British Art. Based on the X-rays, one barrel breech The longer breech section also has a brass sight located 12.7 cm forward of the breech (Figure 7). This sight resembles, but is not identical to, brass sights from French Type C trade guns (ca. 1680-1730) (Hamilton 1968:9;1980:29, 33). It does not look like a brass sight from an eighteenth-century English Type G gun (Burke 1980: Figure 39), but it does closely resemble a brass sight from English Fort Frederica, in Georgia, established in 1736 (Burke 1991: Figure ...

Context 2

... contemporary English documents offer a similar ethnic mosaic of the middle Tennessee River valley. The first is an undated anonymous English map, often attrib- uted to Richard Beresford, that some believe dates to sometime around 1708 (Cumming 1998:206;Riggs 2012:66n36). References to Fort Toulouse and other notations on the map, however, indicate it postdates the Yamassee War. The map shows a cluster of four settlements along "The Cusates or Thegalegos River" (Figure 10). South of the river and just west of a large island is "Tohogalegas." This name corresponds to a Yuchi settlement (Swanton 1930:413). The eastern two settlements and a French fort are depicted on a single large island, "Cusatees Isl.," with the additional notation "Cusatees 150 in 2 villages." The second description of the middle Tennessee River valley is found in Coxe's (1976Coxe's ( [1722) A Description of the English Province of Carolana, a pamphlet based on information from 1698. As with the French sources, there is a significant differ- ence between the map and written account with respect to the identities of the groups described. The map shows four settlements belonging to two groups (Yuchi and Koasati) while Coxe's account lists four (Yuchi, Taskigi, Koasati, and ...

Context 3

... the ethnicity of the Pine Island burial is challenging due to a scarcity of historical data addressing this region during the two decades bracketing the turn of the eighteenth century. Furthermore, extant documents and maps describe an ethnically diverse set of commu- nities in this portion of the Tennessee River valley. Indeed, this fluid situation brings to mind the social pro- cess of coalescence observed among seventeenth-century Native American societies across southeastern North America (Beck 2013;Davis 2002;Ethridge 2010;Kowalewski 2006;Marcoux 2010;Riggs 2012). In the following discussion, we outline what we know from primary documentary sources in the hopes of wresting a clearer understanding from the historical murkiness. We note that much of the following information has been syn- thesized before by Swanton (1930). More recently, Riggs (2012:50-53 The earliest cartographic representations of groups in the study area are French maps attributed to Jean- Baptiste-Louis Franquelin that depict the landscape encountered during La Salle's Mississippi River explora- tion in 1682. Some of these maps depict a prominent island, "I. des Kaskinampo," in what is called among other names the "Casquinampogamou" or Kaskinampo River (Swanton 1930: Figure 1). Three towns depicted at some distance upriver bear names that are most cer- tainly Cherokee (Swanton 1930:407-409). The Louvigny Map, created in 1697, offers more detailed locations for Native American settlements in the area. In this map, a series of towns are depicted along the banks of the Ten- nessee River, which is labeled "R. des Tasquinapous" (Kaskinampo). A Koasati village, "V. des Cochati," is the most downstream and westernmost settlement. "V. des Tasquinapous" is depicted a fair bit upstream, fol- lowed at some distance by two closely settled villages, "V. des Taley" (Tali) and "V. des Togales" (Yuchi). The association of "Togales," "Tahogalegas," "Taogaria," "Tongeria," and other similar place names with Yuchi was well established by both Swanton (1930) and Bauxar (1957:196). An English fort and "4 villages des Katuha" (Cherokee) are shown along the uppermost reaches of the ...

Context 4

... earliest reference by Franquelin suggests that the dominant tribe in the area at the time was the Kaski- nampo. The Sauvole letter suggests that the Cassotis (Koasati) and Cakinon pas (Kaskinampo) lived on oppo- site ends of an island, which we think was Pine Island, ca. 1700. The fact that all of the historical references to what may be the Pine Island location refer to different tribes (Koasati, Kaskinampo, Yuchi) probably reflects the fluid nature of groups in process of reformation as a reaction to slave raiding and depopulation due to disease. The Beresford map suggests that perhaps the Koasati and Kaskinampo had merged and been joined by a Yuchi group shortly after the Yamassee War. Such a late date for the Yuchi arrival would eliminate that group from the identification of the Pine Island burial. If we are cor- rect in identifying the present collection with the mound stated by Moore to be on the upstream end of the island, that location corresponds with the Koasati location in the Beresford map. The fact that the Kaskinampo ceased to exist (probably by coalescencing with the Koasati) leaves only the modern-day Koasati as possible descen- dants of the Pine Island burial. While we think this con- clusion is both plausible and likely correct, it must be remembered that the historical accounts and maps are snapshots of a rapidly evolving colonial landscape. In this case there is evidence stretching into the nineteenth century linking the Koasati to this portion of the Tennes- see River valley. As the present study was initiated to assist in deter- mining the cultural affiliation of the Pine Island burial for purposes of repatriation under NAGPRA, it is impor- tant to note the difference between the standard of proof required under NAGPRA and scientific certainty. NAG- PRA requires cultural affiliation be established "by a pre- ponderance of the evidence," which legally correlates to a confidence of greater than 50%. In fact, the regulations explicitly state that "claimants do not have to establish cultural affiliation with scientific certainty" (43CFR10.14). Based on the evidence presented, as well as information shared throughout the consultation pro- cess, the preponderance of the evidence suggests a cul- tural affiliation with the Koasati. The authors acknowledge, however, the lack of historical data, the fluidity of culture, and the (at times) seemingly contra- dictory descriptions of the region's cultural landscape, which make an affiliation to the Koasati to the exclusion of other groups a probability, not a ...

Context 5

... tubular cane white bead with spiraling stripes is the most diagnostic bead in the collection. It has been found at only a few sites in the Southeast (Figure 1), and none, as far as we are aware, at sites in the Northeast. It has been reported from the Guntersville Reservoir (site unspecified) (Fleming 1976 was found in a multiple reburial of nine individuals in an earlier Hamilton (late Woodland) burial mound. Among other grave goods was a bronze seal-top spoon. Nöel Hume (1969:181) reports dated examples of seal-top spoons ranging from 1494 to 1699. He makes the general observation that such spoons "as a general rule" date prior to 1670 (Nöel Hume 1969:181). The southerly dis- tribution of this bead type suggests dispersal by Carolina traders. According to research by Smith and Marcoux, this bead has not been found on Siouan sites in North Carolina, suggesting that it did not enter the deep South from ...