The area between the Cascade Mountains and the Rocky Mountains in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia, and Western Montana is known as the Plateau Culture area. The Cashmere Museum in Cashmere, Washington has several exhibits of American Indian artifacts collected in the Columbia River area of central Washington. Shown below are some of the jewelry and personal adornment artifacts in exhibit 208.
Jewelry
Shown above are some bear claws which were strung in a necklace.
Shown above are some abalone shell pendants. These shells were obtained in trade from Vancouver Island in present-day British Columbia.
Shown above is a bracelet made from green stone beads probably obtained in trade from the desert Southwest.
Shown above are two bracelets which appear to have been made from shell.
Shown above are some beads/pendants.
Shown above are some beads/pendants.
Shown above are some beads.
Shown above are some beads.
Adornments
Shown above is a bone comb.
We don’t know what hair styles were popular among the prehistoric Plateau Indians, but artifacts such as this comb suggest that hair styles were important. With regard to the hair styles of the historic Plateau tribes, Josephine Paterek, in her book Encyclopedia of American Indian Costume, reports:
“Both men and women wore the hair loose or in two braids, which were often wrapped with strips of otter or weasel fur. The men at times adopted hair styles from the plains tribes such as pompadours, a coiled knot above the forehead, or a forelock hanging over the nose.”
Shown above is a paint mortar. The ocher would be ground into a powder, then mixed with a binder to produce a paint which was used for both body and clothing decoration. Face and body paint were common forms of body ornamentation.
Shown above is another paint mortar.
Musical Instruments
These small flutes and whistles were made from bird bones.
Small Basket
Unidentified
Shown above is a slate artifact.
More Ancient America
Ancient America: A collection of Plateau Indian artifacts (museum exhibit 219)
Ancient America: Columbia River cave artifacts (museum exhibit)
Ancient America: Ohio Ceremonial Earthworks (museum tour)
Ancient American: Northwest Coast Body Adornment
Ancient America: Carved Stone Figures in the Plateau (Photo Diary)
Ancient America: A very short overview of the prehistory of the Grand Canyon
Ancient America: The Paleo-Indian Period in Texas (prior to 8000 BCE)
Ancient America: The Old Copper People