Mount Piska relics: archaeologists divided on authenticity of North Carolina artifacts

Mount Piska relics: archaeologists divided on authenticity of North Carolina artifacts. Mount Piska site contains 300 bear figurines, 93% identical to Smithsonian examples One bear figurine smelled of coal smoke indicating it was manufactured at Smithsonian for comparison Jeffrey Coe, retired head archaeologist of North Carolina (1960-1990), stated artifacts previously determined fake now need testing

Mount Piska holds 300 bear figurines, 93% matching Smithsonian examples, plus 970 cached artifacts. Retired NC archaeologist Jeffrey Coe says pieces once dismissed as fakes need retesting. Dr. Wilmont and Dr. Corbie are conducting fresh analysis, while Alice Wright's dissertation excluded the collection entirely.

Key Facts

• Mount Piska site contains 300 bear figurines, 93% identical to Smithsonian examples
• One bear figurine smelled of coal smoke indicating it was manufactured at Smithsonian for comparison
• Jeffrey Coe, retired head archaeologist of North Carolina (1960-1990), stated artifacts previously determined fake now need testing
• Dr. Corey Wilmont and Dr. Alan Corbie conducting clean analysis on Mount Piska relics
• Alice Wright, who did dissertation on the site, excluded the entire artifact collection from her studies believing them fakes
• Document from March 29, 1883 references Mill Rickerman manufacturing pipes for comparison with old specimens
• Comparison artifacts include Tremper Mound in Ohio with mound effigy pipes, soapstone effigy pipes, and Mound 25 knob
• Seip-Pricer Mound had prepared floor, crematory basin, burned broken offerings, pearl burials, copper celts, breastplates, shell, obsidian, with 500 objects found including 136 platform pipes
• Mount Piska cache contains 970 artifacts being cataloged
• Bear clan served as police/law enforcement function in Potawatomi tradition
• Wolf clan associated with knowledge and tradition
• Turtle clan described as carrying weight of the world on its back
• Bear Big House ceremony practiced in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, with participants wearing bear headdresses with articulated skull and mandible on string
• 1500 pages of documents on clan symbols and North Carolina find are held by Vincent

Source: The Roundtable Chronicles - Ep. 23 by Institute for Natural Philosophy