Conch Shell Dipper Fragment
date: label: Accession Date
content: 30 Dec 1966
name: label: Collector
content: Richard K. Meyer
label: Donor Name
content: Richard K. Meyer
label: Site Name
content: Craig Mound
notes: label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Raw Material 2: Pleuroploca gigantea Element: Lateral fragment Manufacturing Notes: Just the hole. Piece includes portion of shoulder showing knobs. Design: 1 large hole distal Residue: Faint yellow-brown Comments: Some worm damage. KEEP LOOKOUT FOR OTHERS OF THIS NO.
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Raw Material 2: Busycon Alteration: Weathered Residue: Thick coat of residue from decaying and altered shell surface. Comments: This one is stored in x241202006.
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Raw Material 2: Busycon sinistrum Element: Large body & lower body fragments. 1 columella w/ wall. Alteration: Weathered Manufacturing Notes: 6 w/ bits of left edge. Surface Modification: Smoothed Residue: Columella has fill sediment in groove spiral, another has brown patchy on surfaces including break surface. Comments: Large frags. The columella w/wall frag is rare - it hasn't been made into anything and it is badly weathered.
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Element: Large fragments: 5 apical, 2 shaft, 7 body & distal. Alteration: Weathered Surface Modification: Smoothed Residue: Various but the 4 piecs with the most are: 1 apical frag with thick dark brown matte sediment on outer, 2 shoulder frags w/reddish brown spotty residue on both surfaces. Another well worm damaged body fragment has red inner but plain brown sediment outer. Comments: Its possible that some of these could refit.
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Element: Small fragments Surface Modification: Smoothed Residue: One is badly deteriorated Use Trace: One has intensive scour marks Comments: Just bits.
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Raw Material 2: Busycon sinistrum Element: 6 apical, 9 lower body, 11 body Surface Modification: Smoothed Residue: 6 w/residue greenish brown or reddish inner surface. Use Trace: Some w/scouring on inner. Comments: Medium to medium large fragments.
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Element: Body below shoulder Alteration: Weathered Residue: Dirt & some shiny stuff inner. Use Trace: Some w/scouring on inner.
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Element: Complete except distal tip is missing Surface Modification: Scoured Residue: Reddish and black staining inner Use Trace: Many striations outer. Comments: Fairly small, nearly whole shell.
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Element: Body below shoulder Surface Modification: Smoothed Residue: Brown inner has been partially rubbed off. Use Trace: Scoured inner. Comments: Light in weight - leached?
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Element: Large body fragment from below shoulder Alteration: Weathered Manufacturing Notes: Obliterated Surface Modification: Smoothed Residue: Textile impression on surface - faint but w/ some matter stuck to it. Use Trace: Obliterated. Comments: Large fragment but no single dimension represented in full.
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Element: Apex and shoulder Alteration: Weathered Surface Modification: Smoothed Use Trace: Scoured inner Comments: Only the apical half of the cup. There is a hole in the apex but its not from manufacturing.
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Element: Apical and body fragment -no edges or distal Alteration: Weathered Surface Modification: Smoothed Residue: Touch of red discoloration outer, but this may be just from decay & chemical action. Perhaps there is a touch of charring. Use Trace: Warp Comments: Portion of apical stump remains
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Element: Complete Alteration: Weathered Manufacturing Notes: Hole may or may not be drilled - location is correct but there is no thickness here in order to see profile of perforation. Surface Modification: Smoothed Residue: Patch of very dark brown inner. Use Trace: Large hole in right side edge. Comments: Very delicate vessel - surprising that the narrow distal tip has not broken away.
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Element: Complete Manufacturing Notes: Knobs left Comments: Long crack running around the piece starting at the left corner.
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Element: Complete except distal missing along with right side Use Trace: Large hole taken from right side of body Comments: Pictured in Phillips and Brown (Pre-Columbian Shell Engravings from Craig Mound at Spiro, Oklahoma) 1978 fig. 11; pg.30
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Element: Distal missing, large hole Alteration: Weathered Manufacturing Notes: Still has columella Residue: Lots of brown sediment in columella Use Trace: Large hole in the body - could have been for gorget making, but I don't think so. Appears weathered all the way through, and the adjacent areas of the spire are also perforated. Comments: Shows a nice cut away view of a whelk. Labelled "B" by Joan Gardner (conservator).
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Element: Distal missing, with big hole in body Alteration: Weathered Manufacturing Notes: Obliterated Residue: Ver dark brown inner apex. Amall spicules near edge of hole. Use Trace: Obliterated.
label: Notes
content: Style: Unclassified Element: Left body fragment Alteration: Weathered Manufacturing Notes: 1 very fine lined circle Surface Modification: Incised Symbols: Large circle Comments: Just the one big circle that occupies the full width of the remaining space on the upper body. Someone's tracing in expectation of cutting out a disc? A small shell overall. Labelled "A" by Joan Gardner (conservator). The wall is cut away as it would be for a cup. Maybe the circle represent a first step toward recycling, and the 2nd step was never taken.
label: Notes
content: Style: Unengraved Element: Complete except distal missing Alteration: Weathered Surface Modification: Smoothed Residue: Sat w/its right side on fabric. There is mesh-shaped erosion on the surface, and where the surface is intact, its dyed pink. No trace of the actual fiber. Comments: A really big shell.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 1 Oct 2015
label: Site Number
content: 34LF40
label: Specimen Count
content: 63
place: label: Place
content: Spiro, Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Archaeology
culture: label: Culture
content: Prehistoric
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 272249
label: USNM Number
content: A448782-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Dipper
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object 1
content: ca. 12 cm
label: Width - Object 1
content: ca. 9 cm
label: Weight - Object 1
content: ca. 93.5 g
label: Bore Diameter Object 1
content: ca. 0.7 cm
label: Length - Object 2
content: ca. 25 cm
label: Width - Object 2
content: ca. 15 cm
label: Thickness - Object 2
content: ca. 10.2 cm
label: Weight - Object 2
content: ca. 672.2 g
label: Maximum Length - Object 3
content: ca. 19.5 cm
label: Maximum Width - Object 3
content: ca. 16 cm
label: Weight - Object 3
content: ca. 1470.3 g
label: Maximum Length - Object 4
content: ca. 19.5 cm
label: Minimum Length - Object 4
content: ca. 9.4 cm
label: Maximum Width - Object 4
content: ca. 14 cm
label: Minimum Width - Object 4
content: ca. 5.8 cm
label: Weight - Object 4
content: ca. 2433.3 g
label: Maximum Length - Object 5
content: ca. 8.9 cm
label: Maximum Width - Object 5
content: ca. 5.25 cm
label: Weight - Object 5
content: ca. 98.1 g
label: Maximum Length - Object 6
content: ca. 13 cm
label: Maximum Width - Object 6
content: ca. 9.7 cm