By Eric C. Rodenberg ASHLAND, Ohio – The largest collection of ancient ornamental slate American Indian artifacts ever assembled, featuring many of the finest known gorgets, pendants, bannerstones and arrowheads, will begin at its first sale on Dec. 8 by Premiere Auctions Group. The nationally renowned collection of the late David L. Root, who discerningly but aggressively collected during a period of more than 40 years, will be offered by Premiere Auctions Group in multiple auctions during the next several years, according to Premier Operations Manager Jim Bennett. “This first sale will feature 310 lots,” he said. “We’re expecting people from all over the country to be at this first auction. Dave’s collection is just so extensive that it’s going to take multiple auctions to disperse. I don’t know at this point how many auctions we will conduct, but we’re going to pick evenly. The last sale will be as good as the first sale.” Root was well known at the highest levels of the artifact collecting community. His collection is comprised of many types of artifacts from flint arrowheads and knives to stone discoidals, axes and celts; however, his true collecting passion centered around Midwestern artifacts made from glacial slate. This period, after the Late Wisconsin Glaciation radically altered the geography north of the Ohio River about 21,000-25,000 years ago, focuses primarily on items made by the Adena culture that existed from 1000 BC to roughly AD 100. The Adena Culture was named for a large mound on an early 19th century estate located near Chillicothe, Ohio, which was named “Adena.” These Pre-Columbian Adena sites are concentrated in a relatively small area, estimated at around 200 sites in the central Ohio Valley, with perhaps another 200 scattered throughout Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The Adena culture is considered a pre-tribal, prehistoric precursor to the traditions of the better-known Hopewell culture which spread throughout Ohio and down the Mississippi River. While Root’s passion for slate relics included the acquisition of a large number of exceptional bannerstones, atlatl weights and birdstones, his collection centered around slate pendants and gorgets, both ornamental and protective devices worn around the necks. Many of the relics in Root’s collection were previously in some of the most well-known collections in the country. “Dave bought the best of the best,” Bennett said. “It is well documented that he spent a great deal of money buying famous collections, or parts of those collections. In addition to collecting for 40 years, he bought artifacts that could only be found in the Midwest. And many of those items were found back in the 1800s and well documented.” One of the many highlights of the sale is an exceptional 5 3/16-inch Hopewell notched shovel pendant, another ornament worn around the neck, made from green, cream and black banded slate. “It’s one of the best examples of a shovel pendant with finely stylized work on the bottom,” Bennett said. “Dave Root paid an $18,000 hammer price for that fine ornament in 2012.” Another significant piece from an older esteemed collection dating to the late 1800s is a two-hole Adena Quadra-Concave Gorget made from black and brown banded slate found in north central Ohio. Expertly created by prehistoric man in the Adena or Early Woodland Age (1000 BC to 100 AD), the piece is estimated at $10,000-$15,000. Another piece, formerly in the Ohio Historical Society collection, is a 5 5/8-inch Hopewell spear made from gray, brown and blue flint found in Licking County, (central) Ohio. “This was most likely used as a large knife,” Bennett said. It is estimated at $5,000-$7,000. Another showstopper is a 5 ¾-inch by 4 ¾-inch archaic double crescent bannerstone made from green and black mottled slate. The exact function of a bannerstone is still debated by archaeologists, whether they were used as atlati (spear-thrower) weights, drilling or fire-making. However, their form of artistic varieties, designs and colors signify they were considered a keystone of ceremonial and spiritual significant. The unique raised ridges on the barrel of the relic, in addition to its colors and size, is thought to be dated back to 3000-5000 BC. “We think this piece was the middle of an atlati … it remained in the hand after the spear was thrown,” Bennett said. “But it’s also believed to be more of a ceremonial piece, something akin to a “Presentation Rifle” from the Old West,” With an attached original tag indicating a June 23, 1923 date with the name of the former owner, the piece is estimated to sell within the $30,000-$50,000 spectrum. It has previously appeared in several publications and is the featured relic for the front cover of the upcoming book, The David Leigh Root Collection – Volume I. As not merely a collector, but as a meticulous researcher it was Root’s goal to produce a book featuring his vast array of ancient artifacts, setting them into the proper context of their prehistoric times. However, Root was unable to complete the task before his death in early 2018. Due to the sheer size and scope of the Root collection, including photos of all the artifacts between the covers of one book is simply not practical, according to Bennett. However, the company has indicated that documenting the Root collection in a book series format will be an asset to the collecting community. As a result, at the end of each year, beginning with 2020, all the artifacts from the Root collection auctioned by Premiere Auctions Group will be published in a hardcover book series titled The Collection of David Leigh Root. Only a limited number of these books will be printed, based primarily on the number of reserved copies. No money is necessary to reserve copies at this time, but the company asks that interested buyers notify the company as soon as possible. Volume I, which will include all the Root artifacts sold in 2019 and 2020, will be available in early 2021. While the book will be organized by artifact types, the sale dates and lot numbers will be included in the artifact information captions. There will be a prices-realized section printed in the final chapter of each annual volume. Prices for the book is not available until the print date draws closer, the company added. Contact: (419) 207-8787 www.premierauctionsgroup.com |