STONE DISC PALETTES
ALABAMA, ILLINOIS, MISSOURI, TENNESSEE
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COPYRIGHT OCTOBER 31, 2011 PETER A. BOSTROM

    These six stone disc palettes are reported to have been found on sites in Alabama, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee. They are all Mississippian culture artifacts.
    The disc at top left was found in 1975 during excavation of the Campbell site in Pemiscot County, Missouri. This palette was discovered in association with a burial along with a large catlinite disc pipe that measures as long as the palette is wide. It was also found with several disintegrated copper plates and a large quantity of red ochre. The pipe was found laying directly on top of the palette with the disc side down. The Campbell site disc has three engraved circles near the edge on one side and two on the other. The edge has fifteen evenly spaced notches around the perimeter and X's are engraved on the edge between each notch. The Campbell site disc is made of a highly fossiliferous stone that might be limestone and it measures 7 1/2 inches (19 cm) in diameter.
    The disc at top center is one of the five most intricately engraved stone discs ever found and the most famous stone disc ever found on the Moundville site. It's known as the "rattlesnake disc." It was discovered sometime before 1883 by a farmer plowing his field. The entwined serpents, open hand and central ogee symbol represents iconography that some archaeologist believe may represent an opening or pathway to the inter-dimensional world of the ancestors. This stone disc palette is made of sandstone and measures 12 9/16 inches (31.9 cm) in diameter.
    The disc at top right was on display in the McClung Museum in Tennessee when it was photographed. This type is often referred to as a notched palette. This one has fourteen very well done rounded notches that are evenly spaced around the edge along with the commonly seen double engraved circles near the edges.
    The disc at lower left was discovered on a site in south western Tennessee in Shelby, County on a site called either Jeter or Benjestown. This palette is reported to have been discovered with a burial that also contained ceramics and a highly polished rectanguloid piece of cannel coal that was placed beneath the skull. This palette is made of fine grained sandstone and it exhibits heavy grinding use wear. Both sides are reported to be worn down from rotary grinding. The center thickness is 4 mm thick and the rim measures 7 to 8 mm thick. The diameter of this palette is 4 3/8 inches (11.1 cm). It's also reported that there are traces of a reddish substance in the center of one side.
    Very little is known about the disc at lower center. The only information is that it was once in a small southern Indiana private collection and it appears to have once had a tag on one side. It does seem to be an ancient artifact. It's surface indicates that it was pecked, ground and polished into shape. One side is fairly evenly flat. The other side has a slight concave depth of 1/16 inch (2 mm). There is a crack in the stone that extends towards the center for about 3 inches (7.6 cm). The stone appears to be the
gray fine-grained micaceous sandstone that is reported from the Moundville area. There is also a red colored residue on both sides that may be red ochre.
    The disc at lower right
was excavated by Bill Fecht somewhere on the Cahokia Mounds site in 1960. He notes that he discovered it with a burial but gave no more specific information than that. This palette may be unique as being one of the only complete examples found at Cahokia. This palette is generally round in shape but it's not symmetrical. The longer side measures 9 3/8 inches (23.8 cm) long and the narrower side 8 5/8 inches (21.9 cm) wide. Both sides have concave surfaces. What appears to have been the bottom side is very smooth across the entire surface. The red stained side exhibits uneven wear that indicates it was used for the heaviest grinding processes. The cavity depth of the underside measures 5/32 inch (4 mm) deep and the cavity depth of the top side measures 3/8 inch (1 cm) deep. The edge thickness varies from 15/16 inch (2.5 cm) thick to about 5/8 inch (1.6 cm) thick. The two cuts on the edge of the upper side of this palette were done in recent times by Bill Fecht's excavating tools in 1960.

Six stone disc paletts from four different states.

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