Tikchik village: a nineteenth century riverine community in ... - Cluster

298 FIELDIANA: ANTHROLPOLOGY, VOLUME 561.5 cm. in diameter, directly in the middle (PI. 8,12). An informantsuggested that cans of this type may originally have held gun powder.As previously mentioned, worked can fragments were found extensivelythroughout the site indicating the importance of this materialfor secondary working into artifacts of various types. Most ofthese were badly corroded and too fragmentary to indicate the size,shape, or method of manufacture of the cans.The badly corroded, fragmentary remains of two buckets or pailswere recovered, both of which were round with slightly flaring sidesand loop handles. Although they appear to be of vastly differentsizes, it is impossible to determine the actual dimensions of eitherof them.There are six fragments of cast iron kettles, only two of which giveany indication of the shape of the vessel. The largest of these representsa basal section of what must have been a round, squat kettleslightly inverted toward the rim and sitting on three short legs; oneof the legs is present on the recovered fragment. Another fragmentis from the rim of a more straight-sided vessel with a pronounced,slightly everted lip (PI. 9,5). Also recovered were two segments of abrass kettle, but the shape of this vessel cannot be determined.A relatively heavy, iron handle is virtually square in cross-sectionand may have been used with a small kettle of the same material(PI. 8,11).Four well-made planing adze blades have been constructed fromrectangular iron bars. Three are flat across the proximal end (PI. 9,8),while one shows signs of having been roughly rounded by means ofblows from a hammer (PL 9,7).A single chisel blade is long, thin, and has a narrow groove runningabout three-quarters of its length which widens toward the distalend to form a convex working edge (PI. 9,12). Such a blade was intendedfor insertion into an antler or wooden handle.There is one single-bitted axe head with a fragment of cottonwoodhandle still in place. It is made of iron and has all the earmarks ofhaving been hand forged. The working edge is so blunt as to suggestthat the implement could not have been serving the purpose for whichit was intended at the time it was lost or abandoned. Since the proximalsurface is badly battered, the implement may have been usedas a wedge. An examination of both sides of the haft opening revealsnarrow lines that suggest the metal initially was in two pieces whichwere forged together (PI. 9,4).