Rare Indian Ear Spools
Many contemporary youths believe that the piercing of body parts is an art form that is new and modern. But that is not true since we know that indigenous peoples around our world for many millennia have cut holes in their lips, noses and ears so as to adorn themselves with diverse ornamentations. Ethnographic accounts by early European explorers in North America noted that the natives pierced body parts and inserted various organic and non-organic decorative items. Indians in eastern Virginia during the early seventeenth century had external ear parts pierced with multiple holes through which they would weave small live snakes or hang dead rats by their tails. They also wore eagle, turkey and bear claws as well as marine shells, freshwater pearls and native copper jewelry in their ears as noted by these first English visitors. Many of those items required only small holes in the lobula and auricula but some were so large they needed the lobes to be stretched enormously so as to receive rare Indian ear spools.
Archaeological information has been able to determine that Native Americans from the early Woodland Adena people through the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex to the Historic Period wore many types of decorations including ear spools. There are essentially four categories of ear spools based on physical shapes. The napkin ring style is a stone or ceramic cylinder shaped like the modern napkin ring. The double cymbal style is shaped like two cymbals back to back and is made is stone or copper clad wood. Both these ear ornaments were made and used by the natives mainly in the Ohio River region from around 500 BC to AD 500. During the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Period, circa AD 1000 to 1700, the natives made primarily two types – the pulley style which is shaped like a modern pulley and the double flange shape which has one large circular surface and two smaller flanges. Both these forms were usually made of soft stone but were also made of wood clad in thin beaten copper. Many of these ear spools had holes drilled through the center so the ornaments could be attached to the ear lobe by using a wooden, bone or shell pin through the hole and into the lobula or by hanging the object from the ear lobe using a string or thong. The double flange type, though, had no center hole and the ornament would have been inserted into a large stretched hole in the lobe. These ear spools vary from about an inch in diameter to more than four inches and were mostly likely only worn by the nobility of the societies. Numerous stone and ceramic human figurines from the Adena people to the Mississippians clearly show the usage of ear ornamentations by the natives. Many of the rare head pot vessels features multiple piercings in the ear auricula and lobe from which were probably hung feathers or other organic items. Other human effigies have ear spools covering the lower half of the external ear that are match to the actual ear spools recovered in archaeological investigations.
The double flange type ear spools pictured with this article were found many years ago near the Arkansas River in Southwest Arkansas and will date to the Caddo Culture time period or AD 1200 to 1500. They are 2 3/8 inches and 2 ¼ inches in diameter and each is 11/16 inches thick. The material is pale green shale which is a soft and fine grained sedimentary mineral formed by the consolidation of beds of clay or mud millions of years ago. The front sides, which would have faced out when being worn, are slightly dished around the circumference with raised central bosses that have a small pit or dimple in the middle. The back side has two ob-round flanges which have cut outs in the center and are about two inches by one and one-quarter inches in size. These flanges are undercut on their backsides so as to create rims at the surface. It is believed that these flanges were inserted into distended ear lobe holes and the relieved areas kept the spools in place while being worn. Ouch – there must have been some very large and probably painful piercing of the lobules!
Most of us today would never consider attempting to stretch our external hearing organs enough to insert these large ear spools flanges. But remember that not many years ago some tribal people in South America and Africa were doing just that and possibly people somewhere in the world are doing so today. While we will not wish to wear these as decorations, we can still admire the beauty and superb workmanship of these rare Indian ear spools.
REFERENCES:
Campbell, Charles
HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA
1860
Cherry, James F.
THE HEADPOTS OF NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS AND
SOUTHERN PEMISCOT COUNTY, MISSOURI
2009
Fundaburk, Emma L. & Mary D. Foreman
SUN CIRCLES AND HUMAN HANDS
1957
Hart, Steven L.
“Spools, Rings and Other Things”,
PREHISTORIC AMERICAN, Vol. XLI, No. 2
2007
Jolly, Fletcher, III
“Pierced Ears and Mississippi Valley Headpots”,
CENTRAL STATES ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, Vol. 22, No. 1
1975
Maus, James E.
“Unusual Caddo Ear Spools”,
PREHISTORIC AMERICAN, Vol. XXXI, No. 3
1997
Mills, Lawrence
“Mississippian Head Vases of Arkansas and Missouri”,
THE MISSIOURI ARCHAEOLOGIST, Vol. 30
1968
O’Brien, Michael J.
CAT MOSTERS AND HEAD POTS
1994
Starchey, William
THE HISTORIE OF TRAVAILE INTO VIRGINIA BRITANNIA
1621
Swanton, John R.
“The Indians of the Southeastern United States”,
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN, No. 137
1946