JUNE
6/1/2000
GALLERY PICTURES

MISSISSIPPIAN ARTIFACTS
CAHOKIA MOUNDS STATE HISTORIC SITE

   Most of the artifacts in these pictures were found between 1967 and 1971 during excavation of Mound 72 at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. This site is located in Madison and St. Clair Counties in southern Illinois. This site is believed to have been the largest prehistoric city in North America. "Monks Mound" is located there and at 103 feet high it's the largest ancient earthen mound in North America. Cahokia is a Mississippian site that dates to A.D. 800 to 1500.
   The "Birdman Tablet" is the most important artifact in these pictures. It was found during excavation on the east lobes of "Monks Mound". This Tablet is made of Sandstone and has an engraving of an eagle dancer on one side and parallel intersecting lines forming a pattern of diamonds on the other. The birdman is used as a logo to represent the Cahokia Mounds site.
   The round stones in the upper picture are game stones. Most of these were found during the excavation of Mound 72. These "Chunky Stones", as they are sometimes called, are usually concave on both sides with some rare examples having a hole in the center. Some early explorers witnessed a game in which the Discoidal was rolled and two players threw their six foot long sticks, or tchung-ke as they were called, each hoping their spear would lay closest to the stone when it stopped rolling.
   Most of the bright colors in these pictures come from the arrow points that are made of semi translucent Kaolin chert that was brought to Cahokia from the quarry sites farther south. Some of the other arrow points that are white, pink and red are made of "heat treated" Burlington chert. Heat treating the stone made it more colorful and easier to flake. Most of these arrow points were excavated from Mound 72 and represent only a small portion of the approximately 1200 points that were found.  These are the most skillfully made examples of Mississippian arrow points ever found in this area.
   Except for the Fishhooks and the Notched Hoe, the majority of these artifacts were placed with burials and represent the Cahokia craftsman's best work.

   MISSISSIPPIAN ARTIFACTS FROM CAHOKIA MOUNDS
(MOST OF THESE ARTIFACTS ARE OWNED BY THE STATE OF ILLINOIS)

   This picture shows a nice variety of Arrow Points, Discoidals, the 'Birdman Tablet and a Harpoon that were all found on the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.

   The bone Harpoon at the top center of this picture is one of many that were found during excavation of Mound 72 but this is the only complete example that survives. There are also two rare bone Cahokia points located front center and right of front center.

MISSISSIPPIAN ARTIFACTS FROM CAHOKIA MOUNDS
(MOST OF THESE ARTIFACTS ARE OWNED BY THE STATE OF ILLINOIS)

   This picture shows another very good selection of artifacts from the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.

   Most of the Arrow points were found during excavation of mound 72. The two bone Cahokia points and the seven bone Fishhooks are some of the most rare artifacts in this picture. Many of the Fishhooks were made from the toe bones of a deer. Unlike the artifacts made of stone, organic materials such as bone, wood, antler or shell do not survive very well, especially in open air sites. But when they do survive they are exciting to see recovered from an excavation before they deteriorate with age. The large notched artifact in the center is a St. Clair Side-Notched Hoe. It is a rarer variety of digging tool. Most Hoes or Spades from this area were unnotched.