2001 MARCH

The "Mackinaw-Aldrich Cache"
Hopewell Snyders and North Points
"THE BEST EXAMPLES OF CHIPPED FLINT WORK EVER FOUND IN AMERICA!"
(A comment made by Dr. W. H. Holmes---Smithsonian Institution)

"FLINTS LIKE STRINGS OF PEARLS!"
(Story title in the Pantagraph---Bloomington, Ill. newspaper Jan. 6, 1949)

THE EXTRAORDINARY!
"MACKINAW- ALDRICH CACHE"
MIDDLE WOODLAND
HOPEWELL CULTURE
TAZEWELL COUNTY, ILLINOIS
OWNED BY THE PEOPLE OF ILLINOIS
ON DISPLAY IN THE ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SPRINGFIELD, Illinois

    Throughout the history of human development there have been a few artisans and craftsman who have taken their particular occupation to a level of quality that far surpasses most of their colleges. Whether it's a painting on a cave wall, a modern day architectural wonder or even a flaked stone tool the best work always stands out for everyone to marvel at. Well over two thousand years ago, in what is now Tazewell County, Illinois,  such an artisan worked on a cache of Hopewell points. It's generally believed by all who have studied these points that whoever made them had developed his flintknapping skill to the highest level attainable for his time within his culture. Dr. W. H. Holmes was the head curator of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution when these points were found in 1916. He remarked that they were "the best examples of chipped flint work ever found in America." They survive as a tribute to this ancient craftsman's skill.
   What is a cache? The definition of a cache is a place where something is stored or hidden. When used in reference to Stone Age artifacts it defines two or more artifacts found together that were originally placed together. A cache could either be ceremonial or utilitarian. Many caches of artifacts such as ceramic pots or chipped stone artifacts have been found with burials as offerings to the dead. They are also found on ancient quarry sites where unfinished preforms were left for eventual transport to a camp or village site but for some reason were never recovered for their intended use. Caches are also frequently found during excavation of ancient house floors. In North America some of the largest caches have been found in Middle Woodland Hopewell burial mounds. More than 8,000 "disks" or preforms were excavated from a mound in Ross County, Ohio.


DISPLAY OF THE MACKINAW CACHE AS IT APPEARED IN 1957.
ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM

THE MACKINAW /ALDRICH CACHE
TAZEWELL COUNTY, ILLINOIS
OWNED BY THE PEOPLE OF ILLINOIS

   The Mackinaw- Aldrich Cache was discovered in 1916 by some boys hauling gravel from the side of a small hill at the edge of a bluff line on a farm owned by James Tyrrell. The site is located a quarter of a mile from the Mackinaw River and about two and a half miles northeast of the town of Mackinaw in Tazewell County, Illinois. The boys estimated that about 40 points were found in this cache but the broken ones were not collected. Only a total of 33 points were ever accounted for. Thirty one are now located in the Illinois State Museum where the majority of them are on display.
   People refer to this group of artifacts as the Mackinaw Cache after the area where they were found. But they were named in early writings as the Aldrich Cache because Frank W. Aldrich was the man responsible for the recovery of the 31 points now in the Illinois State Museum. As soon as he heard about the find in 1916 he set a goal to recover as many of the points the cache as possible from the several different people who owned them. Some of this process is recorded in a letter dated Dec. 1916 that is addressed to Mr. Aldrich and written by James Tyrell, the owner of the land on which the cache was found. In this letter Mr. Tyrell is offering to sell seven of the eight points he has for $7.00 apiece. Mr. Aldrich responds with another letter written on Dec. 14, 1916 with an offer of $5.00 apiece for all eight points. It was not until 1948 that he was satisfied that all the cache that would ever be available to him was collected. It was probably around this time that he made casts of the points. In fact when Dr. W. H. Holmes from the The Smithsonian Institution's Anthropology Department saw the casts he requested permission to also make casts which were then displayed for several years in the National Museum. It was at this time that Mr. Aldrich presented the collection tothe Illinois State Museum where most of the cache has been and currently is beautifully displayed.
   Although they were never scientifically excavated and proven to belong to a specific culture this cache is believed to be and most probably was made by someone living during the Middle Woodland Hopewell period approximately 2,500 years ago. These points appear to be stylized versions of Snyders and North points. A North point is simply an unnotched Snyders point. The points in this cache are all "oversized" versions of normal utilitarian examples found on Middle Woodland village sites. They are also too fragile the Illinois State Museum where most of the cache has been and currently is beautifully displayed.
   Although they were never scientifically excavated and proven to belong to a specific culture this cache is believed to be and most probably was made by someone living during the Middle Woodland Hopewell period approximately 2,500 years ago. These points appear to be stylized versions of Snyders and North points. A North point is simply an unnotched Snyders point. The points in this cache are all "oversized" versions of normal utilitarian examples found on Middle Woodland village sites. They are also too fragile for use as knives.
   An article in the April 1949 issue of "The Journal of the Illinois State Archaeological Society" states "they are too delicate to be of practical use. They are pure examples of art for art's sake."
   Of particular interest to people studying the manufacturing techniques used to make these points are the notches. Rather than using direct pressure it is fairly certain that these notches were made by indirect pressure flaking. This technique was done in a similar way a hammer and chisel is used. The pressure flaker was struck by a hammering tool to remove the notching flakes rather than pressing them off by hand pressure only.
   When Mr. Aldrich owned this cache he also had blue prints made that show their outline with individual numbers and the dimensions of each point. The length of the notched points range in size from 4 10/16 to 5 7/16 inches and the widths from 2 11/16 to 2 15/16 inches. The average thickness at the base is 3/16 of an inch. The unnotched points average slightly smaller. It has been suggested (by a brilliant flintknapper friend) that the unnotched points were broken during the notching process and were then trimmed across the base. 


CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGE IMAGE!
 FIVE MACKINAW-ALDRICH CACHE POINTS
 TAZEWELL COUNTY, ILLINOIS
OWNED BY THE PEOPLE OF ILLINOIS

   Of particular interest are the notches. They were made with a fairly rare notching technique called indirect pressure flaking rather than the normally used direct pressure flaking technique.



CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGE IMAGE SHOWING THREE SIDES!
#10
SNYDERS POINT
TAZEWELL COUNTY, ILLINOIS
OWNED BY THE PEOPLE OF ILLINOIS

   This is one of approximately 20 corner points found in the Mackinaw Cache.
FIVE EXAMPLES FROM THE MACKINAW- ALDRICH CACHE
TAZEWELL COUNTY, ILLINOIS
OWNED BY THE PEOPLE OF ILLINOIS

   This picture shows the considerable amount of pressure flaking that was applied along the edges during the manufacture of these points. The understanding of flaking techniques have come a long way in just a few years. For example, in the 1952 publication "Hopewellian Communities in Illinois" on page 259 a reference is made to this cache. "There is no pressure retouching of the edges."

 


FIVE EXAMPLES FROM THE MACKINAW- ALDRICH CACHE
TAZEWELL COUNTY, ILLINOIS
OWNED BY THE PEOPLE OF ILLINOIS

  The average thickness at the base of these points is 3/16 of an inch.

CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGE IMAGE
FIVE EXAMPLES FROM THE MACKINAW- ALDRICH CACHE
TAZEWELL COUNTY, ILLINOIS
OWNED BY THE PEOPLE OF ILLINOIS

   This picture shows four notched and one of the unnotched points. In a total of 33 known examples, 31 in the Illinois State Museum and 2 that were originally in the McLean County Historical Society in Bloomington, there are 20 notched and 13 unnotched points in this cache.

 
CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGE IMAGE SHOWING THREE SIDES!
#9
SNYDERS POINT
MACKINAW-ALDRICH CACHE
 OWNED BY THE PEOPLE OF ILLINOIS

CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGE IMAGE SHOWING THREE SIDES!
#1
UNNOTCHED NORTH POINT
MACKINAW-ALDRICH CACHE
 OWNED BY THE PEOPLE OF ILLINOIS
 A CAST OF NO.7 IS AVAILABLE 

---
----
 CLICK ON PICTURES FOR IMAGES SHOWING THREE SIDES!
#7 and #4
TWO NOTCHED SNYDERS POINTS
MACKINAW-ALDRICH CACHE
OWNED BY THE PEOPLE OF ILLINOIS
 The bases then being too thick for notching. (compare the edge view of the unnotched point with some of the notched examples---click on the pictures)
   All of the points in this cache were made of white Burlington chert. Some appear to have been slightly heat treated and have a little color. These points must have gone through considerable cleaning at some time in the past because there is very little patina on many of them.
   The Mackinaw-Aldrich Cache, as a group, contains the finest examples of stylized versions of Snyders and North points ever found in Illinois. They represent the product of an ancient craftsman that most probably did this type of work as a full time occupation.

"REFFERENCES"

1916, From original letters by Mr. Aldrich and Mr. Tyrrell.
1949, Jan. 16, "The Pantagraph" newspaper, Bloomington, Illinois.
1949, "Journal of the Illinois State Archaeological Society, April Vol. 6, No.4 pp15-19.
1952, "Hopewell Communities in Illinois", p. 259

HOME     ORDERING