Cave sticks? An investigation in to the use and purpose of bifurcated sticks found in cache caves.

Summary

This study aims to explore the purpose and use of bifurcated sticks found in cache caves of Southern California. Known as ‘witchsticks’ or ‘spirtsticks’, little formal research has been undertaken on these enigmatic cave sticks. As suggested by their naming, interpretations presume a ritual connotation despite little evidence; alternately, a purely practical application has equally been poorly considered. With the discovery of new Cache cave comes the ability to observe well preserved cave sticks found in situ. By analysing these new cave sticks concentrating on the differing metrics and observing the differing physical attributes, questions concerning their use and purpose may be posed. This study compares these metrics and physical attributes to, a) a sample of non-modified sticks from nearby vegetation; and b) accounts of stick usage in the ethnographic record. This investigation highlights the amount that can be learned by conducting in depth studies of individual aspects of material culture.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Cache Cave in Context: Unveiling New Discoveries in South Central California

Keywords

Spatial Coverage