(…reprinted from
Pennsylvania Archaeologist, 1978)
Possible Aboriginal Glyphs
from Southern Connecticut
By B. W. Powell *
ABSTRACT
A series of
linear "tick" marks in the hearthstone of an old house at Riverside,
Connecticut, has raised speculation that they may be aboriginal in origin.
A description of the marks, their probable mode of manufacture, and some
suggested explanations of their meaning are advanced.
IN THE FALL OF 1975
the author was invited by Mrs. Paul Phenix, then a resident at Riverside, Fairfield
County, Connecticut, to examine some purported "glyphs" which were in a
hearthstone in the cellar of her home. The glyphs were subsequently
photographed and drawn, and a latex mold of the marks was made. Later, plaster
copies of the marks were cast.
The
house in which the glyphs were located supposedly has a ridgepole with a carved
date of 1765. The cellar plaster-over-brick fireplace has a flush-beam
mantel. The fireback is quite eroded, and there is an oven on the right
side of the fireplace (Fig. 1). The hearthstone is an irregularly-shaped
slab of friable, sandy, micaceous schist (about2' X 10'). There is a
probable in situ crack across the stone about1/3 the way in from the
right side. Directly in front of the fireplace, near the inner edge of the
stone, are the glyphs. They were called to the attention of Mrs. Phenix
about 4 years ago by a neighborhood boy.
Fig. 1 The Phenix
Hearth, a Colonial fireplace at Riverside, Connecticut.
Basically,
they seem to be a group of stick figures or perhaps a group of hatch or tick
marks arranged as offshoots from long horizontal lines(Fig. 2).
Curvilinear elements, with possibly one exception, seem to be absent. The
technique of manufacture includes, but may not be restricted to, pecking,
pitting, and/or rubbing. Secondary weathering seems pronounced and is
presumably evidence that the marks were exposed subaerially. (The stone is quite
soft and grades toward "rotten schist”, which is common to the area, and
disintegration seems to be continuing in the present cellar location).
Fig. 2 The
Phenix Glyphs.
Lower and more to the left of the main
group, of marks are a number of lightly-executed marks-mainly short intersecting
"X-like" cuts – which might have been made by fireplace tools. Another
group of even more ill-defined marks occurs lower and to the right of the second
group. Two or 3 of these marks have triangular apexes where they intersect
(like arrowheads?).
Glyphs
are unreported from the immediate region (15 mile radius), but this is probably
more a consequence of negligible fieldwork and competent observation than a real
absence. In any event peckings and carvings of stone are known to the east
of Connecticut, in Massachusetts, and south and west into New York and
Pennsylvania.
The
Phenix farmstead is on the first rise of land west of a tidal creek which leads
into a marsh on the shore of Long island Sound. Scattered remains of both
Archaic and Woodland peoples have been found in the region; about 3 miles to the
west is the west bank of the Mianus River, locus of the Indian Field site
(Powell 1958). Hearsay places a cache or "find" of "arrowheads," found
many years ago by children, one mile to the north of the Phenix site.
Who
made the glyphs? Are they Indian, and, if so, of what cultural
affiliation? Did early settlers perhaps make them? The mostly
straightline technique of manufacture for the marks (Fig. 3) does not seem
clearly "Indian" for the Northeast [at least compared to many of the curvilinear
elements seen in the Pennsylvania sites (Swauger 1975)]. Are the
linear marks tallies or counts? Possibly! Again, the upper
right group is almost suggestive of an animal figure, with the triangular
portion representing a beast's head. Is there evidence here for the "X-ray" art
technique known from some boreal cultures?
Fig. 3 Drawing of
the Phenix Group. Stippled areas indicate spalling.
Lacking
altogether critical anthropological data relative to culture, function, and
"mind-set" of the makers, speculation seems largely relegated to that which sees
figures in tea leaves or faces in clouds! Maybe some of the marks,
particularly the more obscure "X" marks lower down on the stone, are attempts to
dress the stone by the builders of the house, or possibly they are "builders'
keys" in Roman numerals. They seem, however, entirely different from the
topmost main group of glyphs.
James
Swauger (per. comm. 1976) opined the figures might have an "Indian feel" but
could not really say judging only from written descriptions and the field
drawings. Earlier, Fred Dockstader, onetime director of the Heye
Foundation, had replied to Mrs. Phenix that he did not think the markings were
of "Indian workmanship (per. comm. 1974)."
Pending
further such discoveries in the area, or more insightful methods of
interpretation, it would seem best to reserve final judgment about the Phenix
Glyphs until a later date.
* B. W. Powell,
Director, North East Archeological Researchers, Stonebridge Road, Wilton,
Connecticut 06897. October 1976.
REFERENCES
Powell,
B.
W.
1958
Preliminary Report on a Southwestern Connecticut Site. Bulletin of the
Archaeological
Society
of
Connecticut 28:12-29.
Swauger,
James
L.
1975
Rock Art of the Upper Ohio Valley. Die Amerikanischen Felsbilder,Vol. 2,
New
Series.
Akademische
Druck-und-Verlagsanstalt, Graz, Austria.
END