The Archaeology of the Yakima ValleySmith, Harlan Ingersoll
History
The Archaeology of the Yakima Valley
Smith, Harlan Ingersoll
Yakima River Valley (Wash.) -- Antiquities
Some of those shown in Fig. 1[371] represent human figures each with a
feather headdress which may be compared with that of the antler figure
found at Tampico (Fig. 121) and the pictographs of Cowiche Creek. This
place is only about 47 miles northeast from Tampico, and 33 miles in the
same direction from the mouth of Cowiche Creek. One of these is shown in
Fig. 2.[372] The long form in the centre has a headdress which taken
with its shape reminds us especially of the human form in antler from
Tampico. The general shape of the body and the row of dots on each side
edge suggest a resemblance to the quill flattener made of antler from
the Dakota shown in Fig. 122. On each side are human heads, each with a
similar feather headdress that might be interpreted as rising suns with
eyes and mouths. On the left are some similar figures without eyes and
mouths. Below, is a horizontal figure resembling five links of a chain.
There is also a goat which resembles the two pecked in a granite boulder
near Buffalo Rock in the Nez Perce area, eighteen miles above Lewiston
on the east bank of the Snake River.[373] The star at the bottom, the
rays of which end in dots, a small oval with radiating lines at the
left, and two connected ovals with radiating lines at the top, remind us
of the stars at Selah Canon, shown in Fig. 1, Plate XII, the petroglyphs
near Wallula Junction, shown in Fig. 2, Plate XIII, somewhat similar
figures on the large petroglyph at Nanaimo[374] and perhaps even more
than of the Nanaimo figures, those in the petroglyphs beyond Nanaimo at
Yellow Island, near Comox.[375] However, the two connected ovals with
the radiating lines may represent hands of a human figure with a
headdress having radiating feathers. All of these headdresses remind us
of the others at this place shown in Fig. 1, the rising suns at Selah
Canon next described, the pictographs at the mouth of Cowiche Creek, and
the incised human form in antler.
[371] First reproduced. Smith, (g), Fig. 2, Plate IX; negative no.
44534, 8-11, taken from the west.
[372] _Ibid._, Fig. 1; Negative no. 44533, 8-10 as viewed from the
north.
[373] Spinden, Fig. 4, Plate X.
[374] Smith, (b), Plate XI.
[375] _Ibid._, Fig. 115.
In Plate XII and Fig. 1, Plate XIII are shown petroglyphs which appear
fresher and whiter or yellower than the naturally weathered reddish
basaltic columns into which they are pecked. They are on the north side
of Selah Canon about one and a half miles from the Yakima River at a
point about a mile north of Selah station or one half a mile south of
the intake of the Moxee Canal. It is about twenty-five miles west
southwest of Sentinal Bluffs, eight northeast from the mouth of Cowiche
Creek and twenty-two miles northeast from Tampico. They are more easily
made out from a distance than close by.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account