Rlv, Bas. Sur. 

 Pap. No. 23] 



McNARY RESEARCH — SHINER 



247 



Table 8. — Similarities and differences in the material cultures of the McNary and 



Snake-Clearwater regions 



Artifacts 



Both regions 



McNary 

 only 



Snake River 

 only 



Four-notched net weights. - 



Grooved net weights 



Discoid choppers 



Polished celts 



Side-notched points 



End scrapers 



Lozenge blades 



Sandstone shaft smoothers _ 



Stone bowls 



Lap stones 



Bone whistles 



Bone flakers 



Bone beads 



Digging-stick handles 



Bone dice.-. ._ 



Bone needles 



All kinds of shell 



Chipped fetish 



Polished-slate fetish 



Elbow pipes 



Gorge hook 



Spear tines 



The correspondence of the material culture of the Snake-Clearwater 

 region with that of the McNary is probably closer than that of any 

 other region discussed to this point. The similarity may actually be 

 more in the nature of identity. Chipped-stone fetishes were not listed 

 by Spinden, but may have been present in the Snake-Clearwater region. 



The elbow pipes, which were reported for that region, very possibly 

 are typical of the historical period and not of the late prehistoric. 

 Gorge hooks and fish-spear tines have not been recovered in the McNary 

 region, but early travelers' journals give the impression that both 

 were typical artifacts of that region (see section on historical period, 

 pp. 164-165) . The gorge hook is a short piece of bone, pointed at each 

 end, and secured at the center to a fishing line. The bone turns side- 

 ways in the throat of a fish, and thus acts as a hook. 



If these differences can be eliminated, the Snake-Clearwater and 

 the McNary regions would have been nearly identical in material 

 culture. Historical sources have verified the resemblances of the 

 Walla Walla, Umatilla, and Nez Perce Indians for the period from 

 1805 to 1835, so a correspondence in prehistoric times might be 

 expected. 



Comparable materials were available from all sections of the Plateau 

 except the northeast. Archeological surveys and test excavations were 

 made there by River Basin Surveys, but insufficient artifacts were 

 recovered for comparison (Shiner, 1952 a). From the limited collec- 

 tions made, there is good reason to believe that the region from Coeur 

 d'Alene Lake north to Pend Oreille Lake differed significantly in 

 material culture from the rest of the Plateau. The region, although 

 within the Columbia Basin, is atypical. It is heavily wooded and is 



