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"Another type (of hoe)
has a semi-elliptical blade with a square or flat top, in the sides of
which deep notches are cut for securing the handle."---1912,
Frederick Webb Hodge, "Handbook of American Indians North of
Mexico," p. 555.
St. Clair side-notched hoes represent one of the rarer forms of digging tools that have been found on Mississippian sites in the Middle Mississippi Valley. Most of these "Cahokia style" notched hoes seem to be found on sites in and around the Cahokia Mounds sphere of influence. The majority of all the hoes that have been found in this region do not have notches and are ovoid in form. The Dr. Henry Milton Whelpley collection illustrates this fairly well with their large number of hoes. Dr. Whelpley was born in 1861 and spent much of his life putting together a very large collection of Stone Age artifacts from the Cahokia Mounds area. The collection now resides within the St. Louis Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri (not on display). The collection contains 1,110 unnotched hoes and 379 notched hoes, which would be just about a three to one ratio. |
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The side-notched forms of hoes that have been found in and around the Cahokia Mounds site were named "St. Clair side-notched hoes" by Howard Winters. He named them after one of the counties within which the Cahokia site is located. Another term that has been used to describe them is "Cahokia notched hoes." |
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"REFERENCES" 1895,
Clodd, Edward, "Primitive Man," p. 150. |
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