Tag: wood

A Tsunami Spear Point

Polynesia to British Columbia By Grant Keddie. Introduction In 1972, I observed the pointed distal end of a broken wooded spear in the collection of the Royal B.C. Museum. Based on its general shape and design patterns, it appeared to be of Pacific Island origin. The wood was most like the Pacific hardwoods Calophyllum inophyllum or Acasia koa. At first, I assumed the artifact must have been buried with some more recent historic debris, but after observing the accession records and talking to the finder, a different picture began to emerge. It was found buried in Tsunami deposits in the Port Renfrew area on the west coast of Vancouver Island. This makes it the first known pre-contact Polynesian artifact found … Continue reading “A Tsunami Spear Point”

Spindle Whorls of British Columbia Part 3. Large Historic Spindle Whorls in the Indigenous Collection of the Royal B.C. Museum.

By Grant Keddie. March 2023. [Part 4 in this series on Spindle Whorls in British Columbia will deal with the Thunderbird and Lightening Snake Iconography most relevant to Part 3] Introduction Large wooden spindle whorls from the historic post contact period were used primarily for twisting together two already twisted strands of fibre. The fibre consisting mostly of hair of mountain goat, domestic dogs, seal and other mammals as well as bird down and plant material such as the plume of the fireweed. Description of the Large Whorls in the Ethnology Collection There are 30 large spindles whorls in the Royal B.C. Museum Ethnology Collection. The term ethnology is used here to refer to non-archaeological artifacts in the Indigenous collections. … Continue reading “Spindle Whorls of British Columbia Part 3. Large Historic Spindle Whorls in the Indigenous Collection of the Royal B.C. Museum.”