Celt

Celt

Small celts were used as skinning tools. Larger examples could have been used as small chopping devices, like a small ax. Sizes can vary greatly, and they can be made out of slate or granite. They would correctly be classified as tools, as would a stone ax or hammer.

Reference note by p4A editorial staff, November 2011.

Plummets

Plummets

The artifact that we call a plummet, named for the resemblance of its tear-drop shape to the carpenter’s plumb-bob, first appeared in the Late Archaic period, about 1000 B.C. They are found all over the U.S., and the world as well, made from various materials available in the local area either naturally or by trade, including hematite, hardstone, copper, antler and marine shell. They may be well crafted, ornamented and polished or crude [...] Click here to continue reading.

Hematite Artifacts

Hematite Artifacts

Hematite is the mineral form of iron oxide comprising up to 70 percent iron. It is colored black to gray, brown or red, usually with a rust-red streak. The mineral takes its name from the Greek, “haimatites”, which we translate as bloodlike, thus the name alludes to the vivid red color of the iron powder.

Hematite is harder than pure iron, but much more brittle. Large deposits of hematite are found in [...] Click here to continue reading.

Snyders Archelogical Site

Snyders Archelogical Site

Snyders is the name attached to the site of an important pre-historic Indian village on a farm owned by Andrew Snyders. The site is located in Calhoun County, Illinois, five miles north of Batchtown. It’s situated at the foot of the eastern Mississippi River bluff on a sloping terrace. It covers approximately six to eight acres of the bluff-base slope. Hopewell culture burial mounds are located on top of the bluff.

[...] Click here to continue reading.

Ferruginous Quartz

A Missouri collected ferruginous quartz hourglass form bannerstone. Ferruginous quartz crystals on iron ore from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. A ferruginous quartz hinge type bannerstone collected in Indiana. An end view of the hinge type bannerstone. Ferruginous Quartz

Ferruginous quartz, sometimes called Hematoide, is a variety colored in yellow, red, or brown variations of differing intensities by inclusions of iron compounds, usually iron oxides and hydrous iron oxides, and hematite or limonite. These quartz [...] Click here to continue reading.

Dovetail Points

Dovetail Points

Officially known as St. Charles points, but commonly called Dovetail or Plevna points, these prehistoric artifacts are medium to large points with narrow corner or side notches defining the base or stem. The base is typically fan shaped and resembles the spread-out tail of a dove, hence the collector’s term for this form. A small number of these points have been found having a shallow basal notch.

Dovetail points are associated with [...] Click here to continue reading.

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