Carl E. Guthe

Carl Eugen Guthe ( June 1, 1893 – July 24, 1974) was an American academic and anthropologist, son of Karl Eugen Guthe, Professor of Physics and Dean of the Graduate Department of the University of Michigan, and Clara Belle née Ware of Grand Rapids, Mich. Guthe married Grace Ethel (née McDonald) 12 September 1916 in Wayne, MI and they had three sons: Karl Frederick, Alfred Kidder, and James. Karl Frederick Guthe (1919–1994) was professor emeritus of biological sciences at the University of Michigan. Alfred Kidder Guthe (1920–1983) specialised in the archaeology of the US eastern seaboard, and became director of the Frank H. McClung museum at U Tennessee.

Guthe graduated from the University of Michigan in 1914. He went on to receive two degrees in anthropology from Harvard University – an M.A. in 1915 and a Ph.D. in 1917. Guthe assisted Alfred Kidder with his excavations at Pecos, New Mexico: their efforts to ship the skeletons found there to the Peabody Museum at Harvard resulted in their being suspected of espionage. He became the first anthropologist hired at the University of Michigan, the first chair of anthropology there, and the first director of the school's new Museum of Anthropology in 1928. He also headed an archaeological expedition to the Philippines, which was used to supply exhibits to the museum. He left the university in 1944 to take up the appointment as director of the New York State Museum. He created the Society for American Archaeology and began publishing the American Antiquity journal.

Guthe Collection

Carl Guthe went to several locations in the Philippines to look for archaeological evidence. There are 485 sites represented in the total collection, 120 caves, 134 burial grounds and 231 graves. These artifacts are on display at the University of Michigan - Museum of Anthropology.

Kalanay Complex Sites

Siquijor, Site B23:

This is a burial site consisting of two graves in Barrio Sulangon, San Juan, Siquijor.

Pottery:

The paste of the pottery is generally brown, blackened in thicker parts and has a sand temper (beach sand). Inclusions vary from black, lustrous flakes to opaque, white particles. Outer surfaces are smooth while inner surfaces have dents due to the paddle and anvil manufacturing technique.

Glass and iron:

Glass beads

• Translucent fragment of unsymmetrical form, surface much weathered, possibly transparent, maximum length 19 mm
• Cylindrical paste bead with perfect hole, orange with a dull green grain, 19 mm long, 7 mm in diameter and hole 2 mm in diameter
• spherical, colorless and transparent, 11 mm in diameter
• barrel shaped, green opaque, 11 mm in diameter, 9 mm long, hole 3 mm in diameter
• spherical, blue-green, opaque, probably translucent, 14 mm in diameter, hole 3 mm.

Iron artifacts:

• sword or knife handle
• socketed, barbed spear point
• knife blades and tangs, 1 tang which is broken.
• Fragment of blade and tang.

Siquijor, Site C36:

This is located in Barrio Lamancapan, Larena, Siquijor. The cave was a sinkhole in the limestone and is continuously caving in.

Pottery:

Paste brown to black in thicker areas. It has fine angular sand temper plus small rust-colored rounded pebbles. Surface color varies from brown to red-brown and orange to tan. Surfaces are smoothed, while larger vessels had inner surface scrapes due to an anvil.

Siquijor, Site C40:

This is located in Sitio Lubhac, Barrio Banban, Siquijor.

Pottery:

Paste brown to black in thicker areas. It has fine angular sand temper with crystals and rounded opaque grains. Surface color varies from red-brown to tan. Outside surface roughly smoothed or scraped.

Siquijor, Site C74:

It is located in Barrio Maite, San Juan, Siquijor.

Pottery:

Paste red-brown and blackened in thicker portions. It has sand temper including black grains. Paste texture is fine and homogenous. Sherds make a wooden or metallic sound when struck.

Iron:

5.7 cm long Iron tang and a butt of a blade that has both edges sharpened.

Camotes, Site C13:

It is located In Talong Island.

Teeth:

1638 teeth were found, based on calculators approximately a total of 60 burials. A bigger portion of the teeth were either immature or milk teeth, meaning more children were buried. There were numerous wrist and ankle bones, showing that the burial method was probably a direct burial method.

Pottery:

Paste brown to gray-brown. It has fine beach sand temper which includes small shells and lustrous black flakes. Surface color is tan.

Stone, bone, shell, glass and iron:

Three shell bracelets made up of Helcioniscus testudinarius.

Bronze and iron artifacts:

• A small chisel 3.1 cm long, 10 mm wide, and 5 mm thick. Its composition is copper, lead and magnesium.
• Bone hilt and fragment of iron tang; one bone fragment and one complete with tang still imbedded
• Unworked stone, shell and coral
• Shell, paste, glass and stone beads
• Hammerstone or pestle

Leyte, Site C14

This is located at Calubian Cave A, Leyte. The cave is not located in a cliff. Its opening is found around its side, much like a fissure.

Pottery:

Paste brown. It has sand temper with lustrous black flakes and some few rust colored pebbles. Surface color ranges from light to dark brown.

Iron:

Iron tool with a chisel-like surface at one end and a blunt point at the opposite end. Length is 13.5 cm

Siquijor, Site C51

This is located in Barrio Samang, Siquijor.

Pottery:

Paste Brown. It has moderate amount of rounded sand temper. Surface color ranged from tan to red-brown.

Siquijor, Site B37

This is located in Barrio Talaous, Larena, Siquijor.

Pottery:

Paste. It has a sand temper. Surface color is red brown.

Negros, Site B1

This is located in Tabon, Eastern Negros. Chinese ceramics were present in large numbers indicating that the site was in use during the Porcelain Age. In general, the vessels made were for everyday as seen in the amount of soot on several vessels.

Pottery:

Paste tan to dark brown, gray in the thicker proportions. It has a fine sand temper with rust colored pebbles and small lustrous black flakes.

Stone, Bone, Shell, Glass and Metal:

• 4 convex shell bracelets with inner diameter from 5.1 to 5.4 cm; 2 triangular bracelets with inner diameter 4.8 to 5.2; and 6 polygonal bracelets with inner diameter 5.2 to 5.8 cm.
• Lead balls and sandstone mold; 15 cast lead balls 1.5 to 1.9 cm in diameter
• Gold beads: 3 cylindrical beads made from a flat sheet rolled into a cylinder 10 mm long and 2 mm in diameter
• Gold beads: 9 interlocking beads, 4 mm outer and 2 mm inner diameter, with eight interlocking teeth.
• Thin gold bands – two 16-karat gold bands, the first with parallel sides and is projected to be 3.5 cm long; the second band with one straight side and one scalloped edge 8 mm between waves, with slight folds between each wave making this one lie in an arc with projected length 4.1 cm.
• Metal ring with a circular cross section, 5 mm thick, 5.8 cm in diameter
• Metal band bent roughly in an oval, 3.7 cm wide by 5.2 cm long, band 1.5 cm wide; composed primarily of iron and manganese.
• Metal leaf that is 7.3 cm long, cut from thin metal, with a small hole in the center ridge, 3.7 cm from the tip; composed primarily of copper
• Blue, translucent, glass, doughnut-shaped beads, 8 mm in diameter and 6 to 7 mm thick, holes 3 mm in diameter; iridescent surface with silver coloring in the lines etched by weathering and in bubble holes

Cebu, Site B7

This is located in Naga, Cebu.

Ten, same period, burials were excavated from this site. Eight of which had sherds from porcelain or stoneware vessels, the other two had no material at all. This means all of the sherds were from the Porcelain age

Pottery:

Paste red-brown through brown to black. It has sand temper and pebble inclusions up to 7 mm in diameters.

Iron spear points and chisels

Shell bracelets and shell bracelet fragments

Bohol, Site C11

This overhang is located in Sucgang Barrio, Bohol. Chinese ceramics were present.

Pottery:

Paste reddish or chocolate-brown. It has a small amount of sand temper and shell.

Stone, bone, horn, shell, glass and metal artifacts:

• Shell bracelet: rectangular, triangular, and grooved.
• Shell rings: Five rings, inside diameter 15 to 19 mm.
• Metal bracelets and fragments: either copper or brass bracelets.
• Metal rings
• Metal bells
• Gold plaque: embossed pattern with circles, lines and dots.
• Gold beads
• Gold rings
• Glass bracelets: red or black
• Shell disk
• Horn and tooth: from a boar
• Stone: polished trapezoidal adze
• 10 centavo coin
• Teeth: from pig (genus Sus) and deer (genus Rusa)

Palawan, Site C68

This is located on the eastern side of Lagen island, Bay of Bacuit, Northwestern Palawan

Pottery:

Must have come from more than one source. The vessels representing the Kalanay pottery complex has dark brown paste with much sand temper and dark brown surface color. The other pottery have a dark-gray to black paste with some sand temper and a surface color that varies from gray to black.

Samar, Site C1

This is located in Chapel, Cave, Laguinit Island, west coast of Samar.

Pottery:

Red-brown paste with sand temper. It has a red-brown surface color.

Stone, shell and wood:

• Unworked stone pebbles, a possible pottery manufacturing tool
• Small board with toothed ends
• Shaped piece of wood with faint painted decoration of three concentric circles on one side
• Shell “window pane” with rounded corners
• Stone tool - Pick
• Shell bracelets
• Shell saw

Samar, Site C16

This is located in Majoras Cave, Samar. The cave is a large rock shelter which contained wooden coffins and Chinese porcelain.

Pottery:

Brown paste with sand temper; surface color is brown.

Samar, Site C7

This is a cave located on Aocan island, Samar. The cave is a water-worn crevice with a triangular opening.

Pottery:

Paste, red-brown to dark brown. It has sand temper and black flakes.

Bone, shell and metal:

• Two handles or tools of bone probably made from ribs. It is well polished due to use.
• Iron artifacts: Blade fragments
• Shell bracelets: One spiral-convex, 21 triangular.

Bibliography of Carl Guthe

• Guthe, Carl E. (1921). A Possible Solution of the Number Series on Pages 51 to 58 of the Dresden Codex (Online book). PAPERS OF THE PEABODY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY. PEABODY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

See also

• Griffin, James B.; Jones, Volney H. (April 1976). "Carl Eugen Guthe, 1893-1974". American Antiquity. 41 (2): 168–177. JSTOR 279167. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)

https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1525/aa.1927.29.1.02a00040

https://aadl.org/node/393849

External links

• Works by Carl E. Guthe at Project Gutenberg