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COLLECTOR'S

CABINETS
EASTERN UNITED STATES
PAGE 1 OF 3 PAGES
COPYRIGHT APRIL 30, 2005 PETER A. BOSTROM

MISSISSIPPIAN CERAMIC POTS ON A COLLECTOR'S SHELF

abstract
COLLECTOR'S CABINETS
EASTERN UNITED STATES

    This article illustrates several collector's cabinets, cases and shelves that were once full of prehistoric artifacts from the eastern United Sates. Almost all of these collections have long ago been dispersed after the owners died. North American prehistoric artifacts are still being collected by the public but the subject has become more controversial as the years go by.

    "Collecting artifacts is an entrenched part of the culture in rural areas of Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, where plowed fields and river banks yield arrowheads, spear points, bannerstones and gorgets by the hundreds".---1999, Maria Braden, American Archaeology, Vol. 3 No. 4.
    "Many responsible collectors want to preserve history; looters want to profit by it".---1999, Maria Braden, American Archaeology, Vol. 3 No. 4.



COLLECTOR'S CABINETS
EASTERN UNITED STATES

     Collecting is a part of human nature. Later cultures seem to have always wanted to collect the previous culture's artifacts. In fact, the history of collecting can even be traced through time by the counterfeits. Hoving writes in False Impressions that "Art forgery is as old as mankind itself. The earliest fakers appear to have been the Phoenicians."


PHOTO CREDIT BILL FECHT
WAYNE RICHARDSON (deceased)
ILLINOIS COLLECTOR

    Wayne Richardson past away many years ago. In the picture on the left he is holding a fairly rare bird hunting gun. Wayne was a collector of just about everything but he did focus on ancient artifacts from Illinois. His house was completely filled with everything from giant clam shells to stuffed snowy owls. Only narrow aisle ways allowed people to navigate through the mountainous collection. He was known as the "human packrat" and he joked that his wife left him because there was no more room. The picture on the right shows him holding a discoidal and you can see one of his cabinets of prehistoric artifacts against the far wall.

    Most of the collections illustrated here have been dispersed long ago and the owners have past away. Their artifacts now reside in other private and even institutional collections as the process of collecting continues.


CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGER IMAGE
CABINET FULL OF ARTIFACTS
ILLINOIS COLLECTOR (ANONYMOUS)

   The artifacts in this Illinois collection have been dispersed. This picture was taken several years ago. The bottom shelf held several spades from Illinois, made of Mill Creek chert. There are also several adzes, discoidals, a spud (ritual axe), large Morse knife, Adena point and various smaller projectile points and knives. The second shelf holds several different examples of Mississippian ceramic pots. They were found on sites in Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas. The upper shelf contains a row of grooved axes and more Mississippian culture ceramic posts.

    Collections are a reflection of an owners personality and financial situation. B. W. Stevens was wealthy enough to acquire a very large number of the best available examples of a wide range of artifacts from Illinois and the surrounding area. His was one of the largest collections at the time. On the other hand, collectors like Bud Grove, assembled smaller collections, adding to it when the opportunity presented itself. More amazing are the collectors like Wayne Richardson who seem to have collected 24 hours a day. He literally turned his house into a museum display and storage facility that had narrow passageways winding throughout the building.


BUD GROVE (deceased)
ILLINOIS COLLECTOR

    Bud Grove was a collector in southern Illinois. He past away several years ago and his collection has been dispersed. The above picture shows one of his two cabinets of Mississippian ceramic pots. They would have originated from sites in Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas.

    The majority of the stone artifacts in the collections illustrated here were found in plowed fields. Some of the earlier discoveries were made by farmers working behind horse drawn plows. But as the agricultural industry became more mechanized, tractors and other earth moving equipment have been breaking new ground ever since. Countless numbers of archaeological sites have been disturbed from agriculture. These cultivated fields have been the main source for Stone Age artifacts.

CONTINUE ON TO PAGE TWO

"REFERENCES"

1960  Wachtel, H. C., "Who's Who In Indian Relics No. 1," pp. 68-69.
1968  Wachtel, H. C., "Who's Who In Indian Relics No. 2," pp. 194-196, pp. 232-233.
1972  Parks, Cameron & Thompson, Ben W., "Who's Who In Indian Relics No. 3," p. 8.
1984 Thompson, Ben W., "Who's Who In Indian Relics No. 6," p.44.
1996  Hoving, Thomas, "False Impressions," p. 24.
1999  Braden, Maria, "Trafficking In Treasures," "American Archaeology," Vol. 3 No. 4. p.19.
Personal communications with Floyd Ritter.

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