Peculiar Wooden Tubes from Southeastern Oregon

Abstract

During excavations in Catlow valley, southeastern Oregon, by the Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, in the summers of 1937 and 1938, there were foundseven peculiar wooden tubes, each with a shallow groove around one or both ends. The specimens, shown in Fig. 10, range in size from No. 7 which is 5.3 cm. long by .5 cm. in diameter, to No. 3 which is 10.0 cm. long and .7 cm. in diameter. The largest from the standpoint of bulk is No. 5 which is 8.8 cm. long and 1.2 cm. in diameter. This specimen is the only one made from mature wood and not from short sections cut from small annual shoots. In each case the pith has been removed, leaving a clean bore the length of the section. No. 6, one of the most poorly made, apparently was never finished because the pith was never cleaned out, though it is evident that several small sticks were broken off during the attempt.