ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF SHAMANISM IN CALLIFORNIA AND NEVADA A. B. Elsasser It is not uncommon in archaeological excavations to encounter objects which were obviously made and used by man but the function of which cannot be inferred without invoking the idea of specialized usage in religious or magical ceremonies or acts. In nearly all cases where such attribution is involved, the common method of establishing the original purpose of the object is by ex- trapolating the use of the same type of object from an ethnographic context, and further assuming that its original function has not been appreciably modi- fied since the type of object was first used in the prehistoric past. I propose here to compare the types of native objects or fetishes recorded by ethnographers in California, Nevada and surrounding regions as used in con- temporary times or by immediate ancestors, with a similar range of seemingly non-utilitarian specimens found repeatedly in archaeological associations in these regions. The purpose of this study is not merely to establish a time depth for the various ethnographic traits, for, as will be seen, the wide geo- graphical distribution of certain of these traits suggests a reasonable anti- quity in itself. What may be valuable, however, is the examination of the stability of a complex of closely related culture elements and the determina- tion of possibly important differences existing in the material aspects of shamanism between California and Nevada in prehistoric times, differences, that is, which have not been noted in the ethnographic period0 Handicaps in such a venture are numerous. First of all, the ethnographic literature is not often complete on the subject0 Perhaps native shamans or other informants were unwilling to reveal any but the most obvious facts con- cerning such an esoteric part of their culture. For instance, while shamans' bundles or fetish sacks are often mentioned9 their contents are only rarely itemized, Again, one is not always certain of the distinctions between the various types of shamans. It is not clear, sometimes, whether so-called rain- shamans, rattlesnake shamans, hunting shamans, or curing shamans are the same, or several different persons0 There seems to be no solution to the difficulty brought about by incomplete statements of informants but to accept avti lable complete statements as representative of the region in question and to assume the presence of similar elements for surrounding territory if no contradictory evidence appears. The proper identification of the shaman of whatever type may be resolved by choosing a flexible definition of shamanism. Thus we may characterize it as that part of native religious activity which is the concern of persons who have sought and received rapport with powerful spirits wiich have given them power to manipulate earthly situations. For present purposes, unless otherwise noted, shamans Will be considered as of the curing type, since the role and paraphernalia of the curing shaman have been best recorded in the ethnographic literature, 38 In the archaeological data, we are confronted by a general lack, in large parts of California at least, of perishable goods which presumably made up the full complement of shamans' equipment. Objects such as charmstones (Elsasser, 1955) , tubular stone pipes, quartz crystals, oddly shaped pebbles or concre- tions, small paint mortars or grinding slabs, and small quantities of red, yellow, or black paint have all been reported by ethnographers as being used in shamanistic performances, and these objects in various combinations have likewise been found archaeologically in graves which have therefore been pre- sumed to be those of shamans. On the other hand, such specimens have also been found alone or unassociated with other objects in midden deposits, so that we cannot say with accuracy whether they were used by shamans or by the "laity." Published reports of dry cave archaeology in California reveal lit- tle in the way of assemblages of objects9 perishable or non-perishable, which could'be positively construed as shamans' equipment, although perishable ob- jects like bull-roarers have been recovered, and these may have been used by prehistoric shamans as component parts of a larger bundle or cache. A recent summary of the distribution of the bull-roarer in California (Heizer, 1960) presents data on its wide ethnographic use both as a toy, and in a religious or ritual connectionO Examples of the varying uses of bull- roarers may be seen among the Chemehuevi of the Mohave Desert., where It is reported, wooden bull-roarers were used as toys, while those of mountain sheep horn (notched) were for rain-making (Kelly, 1936, p. 138), When we turn to the dry deposit caves of the Great Basin or of the Ameri- can Southwest, we find a particularly favorable archaeological situation for the consideration of shamans' paraphernalia0 Although some of these caves were regular occupation spots, with presumed shamans' kits included among a great number of artifacts of practical, everyday use, several of them, like Humboldt and Eastgate Caves in western Nevada, seem to have been used pri- marily for caching, and there is a possibility that Eastgate Cave was used exclusively by shamans (Elsasser and Prince, n.d.). In the ethnographic literature, the mention of caves as places where shamans sought power is prom- inent. Such caves must have had a sacred quality, and were probably avoided by the general population, hence afforded a safe, dry place for the storing of Shamans' equipment Apart from the evident caches or bundles of this kind of equipment, other perishable and non-perishable objects which probably were used by shamans have been found in these dry cave deposits, apparently unassociated with caches of any kind. These include prayer sticks or pahos (Martin et al., 1954), pipes, and a curious class of artifact known as split-twig figurines. Split-twig figurines have been recovered archaeologically in caves in Nevada, Arizona, and California. They have almost consistently been found in caves which are fairly difficult to approach, in rather large numbers, and not associated with evidence of extended occupation (Schwartz et al., 1958). They have not yet been described as in ethnographic use, although animal eff i- gies are recorded as having been employed in shamanistic curing ceremonies by certain Apache or Papago groups (Gifford, 1940, po 74). The split-twig archaeological specimnens presumably were used in some sort of hunting magic . 39 It has been possible to present what may be called a composite picture of a typical prehistoric Great Basin or Basketmaker Southwest shaman's cache. The contents of two caches from two dry caves in Nevada-, and of eleven bundles or kits, nine of them from dry cave deposits, in Arizona, western Utah, and New Mexico, have-been tabulated, with results shown in Tables 1 and 2. The list of elementss, except for pipes, charmstones and several items from a so- called magician's burial at Ridge Ruin (McGregor, 1943), includes only those items which were shared by two or more kits. The cache at Humboldt Cave (Heizer and Krieger, 1956) and the burial described by McGregor (2p. cit.) both contained a great many additional artifacts not included on the T7it. These omitted artifacts may be classified either as of ordinary practical use or as distinctly decorative in function. In any case, both of these examples were outstandingly rich in content compared to the others itemized. The sources of data in Table 1, in the column showing the documented ethnographic occurrences of shamanistic devices, are mostly the Culture Ele- ment Distribution lists published in the Anthropological Records of the Uni- versity of California. They have been selected as approximately corresponding to the archaeological data, at least so far as general region is concerned. Admittedly this is an extremely rough analytical procedure. Its justifi- cation lies merely in its showing graphically the range of artifact types which appeared in what are known, or thought to be, shamanistic situations in California, Nevada, and areas surrounding the latter. Exact correspondences are clearly impossible to show, for the reasons I have already cited, having to do with the partial incompleteness of ethnographic data for both regions and of archaeological data for California. The only computations which may be considered finite and reasonably complete are those relating to the archaeo- logical caches. These are shown in Table 2. The Ridge Ruin material (not shown in Table 2) was not in a cache proper, but was spread about in the "magician"'s" grave, and certainly seems to represent something more than the effects of a simple curing shaman. These are all of the bundles that I have been able to record in the entire region. There are, no doubt, others which have been missed in the survey, and there is at least one additional example known, from a cave in the Verde Valley in Arizona (McGregor, 2fl cit., p. 270). So far as can be determined, this has not been described in print. In any event, the great geographical separation of the bundle localities under scrutiny makes it seem unlikely that data from additional caches, roughly representing the same time period would appreciably alter the picture. Most of the kits were found in caves considered to be associated with the Anasazi Culture (Basketmaker II or III). The bundle from Tularosa Cave is thought to represent phases of the Mogollon Culture, dating from about 700-1200 A.D. (Martin et al., 1952, p. 452; Martin, 1959, po 50). In sum, a maximu time range from TOO A.D. to 1400 A.D. may be estimated as including all the finds. Even with all of the reservations so far expressed, let us examine Table 1 with an eye toward discovering some possible inferences concerning use pat- terns of paraFphernalia in California and Nevada in the archaeological and eth- nographic periods. First of all, it appears that there is a more than ho Table 1 SHANANISTIC PARAPHERNALIA IN CALIFORNIA, NEVADA, AND SURROUNDING REGIONS Shaman's Kits in Nevada and Southwest Archaeological Recorded in (Archaeological) Occurrences in Ethnographic (No. of occurrences alifornia Period of elements) (entire region) (See Table 2) Perishable Bundle (e.g., woven, 10 or animal hide) Feathers 5 X Wooden stick 4* X Odd vegetal matter 2 X Baskets or basketry ? fragments Bull-roarer ? X Rattle or whistle 1* ? X Deerskin thongs or 5* X animal skin pouches Lumps of organic sub- stance (e.g., pine 5* pitch) Seeds 3* x Sandals, moccasins 3 Non-Peri shable Paint grinder (mortar X X or slab) Paint 6* X X Pipe 1 X X Quartz crystals 4 X X Charmstones 1 X X Stone knife 3* ? x Projectile point 4* ? X Stone or mineral pieces; oddly shaped pebbles, 5* X X lumps, spalls Animal parts (e.g., bear 7* X X claws, beaver jaws) Beads 6* ? X Bone spatulae 1* ? X X = Present ? = Present, e.g. in some burials or in midden, but not necessarily or specifically associated with shaman's equipment * = Includes item from Ridge Ruin magician' s burial 141 Table 2 OCCURRENCES AND ELEMENTS OF "SHAMAN'S BUDlLE" (Peri shable) Name and Thongs Foot Location Bundle Feathers Stick Vegetal Basket or Lumps Seeds gear of site________ Pouches____ga Eastgate Cave (Nevada) Fremont River x X (Utah) X X Broken Roof Cave X (Arizona) White Dog Cave I | X (Arizona) White Dog Cave II | X X (Arizona) Cave 6 (Arizona)XXX La Plata (wet) (New Mexico) San Juan Valleyl I (Utah-Arizona) | X | X San Juan Valley II | (Utah-Ar izona) Kane County | X X (Utah) Swarts Ruin (wet) (New Mexico) Tularosa Cave x X (New Mexico) X X Humboldt Cave | X | X x | X (Nevada) Table 2 OCCURRENCES AND ELEMENTS OF "SHAMAN'S BUNDLE" (Non-Perishable) Cham- ProAnimal |aints Pipe Quartz stones Knife r Mineral Parts Beads References .~toe _ Pt. Part Elsasser and Prince, n.do X Morss, 1931 X X X X Guernseyr, 1931 X l | | Guernsey and Kidder, | X |Guernsey and Kidder, X | x l l l | X X | Guernsey and Kidder, X X X X X Morris, 1939 Cunmings, 1910 X X Cummings, 1910 X X X X Nusbaum, 1922 X X X X Cosgrove, 1932 x x x Martin et al., 1952 H||zer apd Krieger, 143 coincidental correspondence of items,,between the three columns shown in the table. It does not seem excessively daring to suggest that if perishable material from archaeological sites in California were available, the most apparent gap in the list would be handily filled in, and the picture of a virtually homogeneous shamanistic institution prevailing over the whole of California and the Great Basin and environs therefore greatly strengthened. As the list stands, it is seen that several occurrences in the column devoted to archaeological kits exclusively require further comment or ex- planation. It is surprising, for example, to find but one pipe specimen in the entire array of these caches. The smoking of tobacco in pipes during shamanistic perfomrances was so widespread a practice in the ethnographic period that one would expect pipes to be one of the most frequently found objects in the archaeological caches. It may be noted here that pipes were found in the same deposits with four of the kits, but not associated with them. This could have some bearing on the problem, but if not, we should have to accept the explanation that pipes were not an important element in shaman- istic activities in prehistoric Nevada. An alternative suggestion is that pipes were a part of the shaman's everyday possessions, and that when the med- icine bundle was stored or buried, the shaman kept the pipe out of it, in order to use it for ordinary smoking. Park (1938, p. 35), referring to the Paviotso of the Great Basin, states: "Nowadays, however, cigarettes frequent- ly take-the place of the pipe and tobacco in shamanistic performances. Conse- quently, few shamans have pipes. -Shamans might also use their pipes for social smoking, passing them around among companions. The shaman's pipe dif- fered in no details from those employed for secular purposes. Both the pipe used in curing and the one used for pleasure are designated by the same term." In California, stone or wooden pipes used in shamanism are reported from a great majority of groups surveyed in the ethnographic literature. Archae- ologically, pipes are found so frequently in California that one is driven to the assumption that many of them were also for profane use, and had no connection with shamanism, In the case of charmstones, no specious explanation is needed to account for the practical absence of these objects in the dry cave caches. Here, it seems, we are dealing with a positive regional difference, for in Nevada charmstones are relatively rare both ethnographically and archaeologically, while in California, especially in Central California, they are so frequent that again, as with the pipes, one is tempted to look upon them as objects which might have been kept or used by practically any person whatever, in this instance as good luck charms. The ethnographic references to charmstones in California mostly concern use by weather shamans, although curing shamans arc sometimes mentioned as employing them as well (Gifford and Kroeber, 1937, p. 200)o Referring to the elements which are indicated as lacking in ethnographic descriptions, that is, lumps or organic substances such as pine pitch, and moccasins or sandals, I assume that these items were of little importance, and may easily have been missed or otherwise interpreted in such accounts as exist. Moccasins or sandals may havre been used in connection with curing, as paymaents for services rendered, but I have not found any references to their use in the curing performance proper. Analysis of the dry cave occurrences discloses that in the three cases where moccasins or sandals occurred, a non-adult, that is, a miniature or child's size, specimen was represented. This also may indicate a characteristic not having to do with the shaman's performance, but one which is nevertheless intimately related to the shamanistic complex. In one instance, where sandals of four sizes were found, it was suggested that here the four periods of life, from childhood to old age, were repre- sented (Cummings, 1910, p. 13). Of the two other examples, one was a minia- ture sandal, while the-other was a child's hide moccasin, of the type called the "Fremont moccasin" in Great Basin archaeology (Morss, 1931). This, or a similar type of moccasin, has been found in two other dry caves in Nevada (Lovelock Cave; Loud and Harrington, 1929; and Etna Cave: Wheeler, 19h2). Both of these specimens presumably could have been detached from shamans' caches, though the excavation reports do not indicate this. Both are evi- dently child-size moccasins. I would like to suggest on these grounds that the custom of keeping extremely small sized moccasins or sandals in medicine bundles may ultimately be connected with the idea, prevalent throughout the western part of the United States in the ethnographic period, that dwarf-like people act as guard- ian spirits or as givers of power to shamans (Park, 1938, pp. 77-78). Perhaps the small moccasins or sandals served as something like mementos or reminders to the shaman of the original source of his power. In sumary, it appears that all of the data pertaining to a limited but specific range of artifacts here called shamans' paraphernalia, in California, Nevada, and imediately adjoining areas of the American Southwest, firmly sup- port the concept of a widespread institution which varied but little in its material details throughout the entire region. Although the material elements are, properly speaking, secondary features of shamanism, they probably serve to reflect an underlying body of concepts which are spiritually central to the institution as a whole. The idea of the historic general similarity of shamanism in California and Nevada, with a few distinctive features characterizing, and therefore in a measure setting off, one area from the other, has been expressed most emphatically by Park (Ibid.), in his monograph on shamanism in western North America. The existence of a similar relationship in prehistoric times of course could be expected, and it seems to me that the present paper has of- fered substantive confirmation of the picture. The virtual equation of the dry cave caches of Nevada with a number of bundles from the Anasazi and even one from the Mogollon areas of the Southwest seems to me defensible on the ground that the time period represented by all of the caches is roughly equivalent (being estimated, as stated above, from about 50O A.D. to 14oO A.D.). It is not the purpose of this paper to suggest that the relatively circumscribed data presented are vitally pertinent to the problem of prehistoric California-Great Basin-Southwest cultural relationships. It may safely be said, however, that the evidence does point to an extremely stable, cohesive systenm of shamanism persisting over a long period of time and hardly modified in California and Nevada up to the time of white contact. In the later Puebloan So0uthwest, the position of the kind of shamanism here under discussion has obviously been obscured by a general elaboration of the ceremoni- al life of the Puebloans, including the addition of the priestly office, and this has not been shared by the peoples to the north and west of them. BIBLIOGRAPHY Abbreviations CNHK F Chicago Natural History Museum Fieldiana PM-P Peabody Museum (Harvard Univ.) Papers UC- University of California AR Anthropological Records AS-R Archaeological Survey - Reports PAAE Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology Contreras, E. 1957 An extraordinary Central California burial in Marin County. UCAS-R 38:29-33. Cosgrove, H. S. and C. B. 1932 , The Swarts ruin. PM-P 15, No. 1 Cummings, B. 1910 The ancient inhabitants of the San Juan Valley. University of Utah Bulletin 3, No. 3, Pt. 2. Driver, H. E. 1937 Culture element distribution: VI. Southern Sierra Nevada. UC-AR 1: 53-154. Elsasser, A. 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