PRIMITIVE COPPER WORKING: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Abstract

Moorehead read a paper on " Singular Copper Objects from Ancient Mounds in Ohio."These objects were described as discovered by himself in great nunibers in the so-called Hopewell group of mounds, while conducting explorations for Professor Putnam of the Anthropological Department of the Columbian Exposition.They consisted mainly of numerous figures, large and small, made of shcet copper.Many of them showed outlines and open-work cuttings of surprising regularity, neatness of finish, and intricacy of design.The platelike figures were of nearly uniform thickness, but the thickness of individual specimens slightly varied.Although these specimens exhibited characteristic Indian modw of artistic treatment, it was thought thiit a primitive people like the so-called moundbuilders, being unpossessed of a knowledge of snielting or of tools of iron or steel, could not have fashioned plates of such size and uniformity as many of those from which these objects had been made, merely with inipleinentv of stone.It was also believed that such a people, even if possessed of large, thin plates of copper, could not have cut thein into patterns so elaborate, the lines of which were often as curved and complicated, yet as clean as scroll or stamped work.It was therefore puggested, in the discussion which fallowed the presentation of Mr. Moorehead's paper, that these objeck were perhaps of European inanufacture or, granting the art-work on them to hare been native, that the copper plates from which they had been cut must have been of foreign make, since such large thin sheeh of metal could only have been wrought by means of roller mills or stamping machines of hard metal.Having practically and thoroughly learned the art of metalworking as practiced by the Zuiii Indians, having often seen and helped then1 make perfectly tiniforin plates as well as extremely PRIMITIVE COPPER WORKING.

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