Excavating in Museums: Notes on Mississippian Hoes and Middle Woodland Copper Gouges and Celts

Winters, Howard D.

doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1981.tb28160.x

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Most hoes were made from Mill Creek chert that outcrops in south-western Illinois (Winters 1981;Milner 1984;Brown et al 1990;Cobb 2000). It occurs naturally as large tabular nodules, many of which were dug from shallow pits that heavily pock the surface of quarry areas (Phillips 1899(Phillips , 1900Holmes 1919;Cobb 2000).…”

Section: Midwestern Chert Hoesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mill Creek chert was likely fashioned into hoes by households close to the stone's source (Muller 1997;Cobb 2000). Finished blades were exchanged throughout much of the Midwest, with a few reaching the south-east (Holmes 1919;Winters 1981;Brown et al 1990;Muller 1997). Many ended up near Cahokia, the largest mound centre in the United States, located 160km from the quarries.…”

Section: Midwestern Chert Hoesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Chert hoes as digging tools

2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

What type of implement was used to cut and move earth in prehistory? In the Mississippian culture at least, the key tool was the stone hoe -formed from a chert blade strapped to a handle. These blades were hoarded and depicted in use, leaving little doubt that they were for digging, in the service of agriculture and extracting earth for building. Drawing on a series of controlled experiments, the authors deduce the capabilities and biographies of the stone hoes, evoking the admirable efforts of the people who constructed the massive mounds of Cahokia.

show abstract

Section: Midwestern Chert Hoesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Midwestern Chert Hoesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chert hoes as digging tools

2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Flared and notched hoes made of Mill Creek chert have long been recognized as common digging tools that were in widespread use in the American Bottom and beyond (Brown et al 1990;Cobb 2000;Holmes 1919;Phillips 1900;Rau 1864Rau , 1869Winters 1981). These hoes were of great importance to Mississippian farmers, as shown by their symbolic depiction on the Birger figurine and perhaps also the Schild pipe (Emerson 1997:196-197, 205-207;Emerson and Jackson 1984:254-258).…”

Section: Mill Creek Chert Hoesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mill Creek Chert Hoes and Prairie Soils: Implications for Cahokian Production and Expansion

Hammerstedt

Hughes

2015

Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…While there is a long history of hoes (made of not only stone, but shell, bone, and wood) known from early cultures of the Mississippi River Valley (Cobb 2000;Cobb & Garrow 1996;Milner et al 2010;Winters 1981), Northeast North America (Fowler 1973-74;Sturtevant 1968), the American Southwest (Adams 2002;Turney 1924), Melanesia (Nilles 1942-45), and elsewhere, they have not been explicitly identified, previously, from archaeological sites in Lower Central America.…”

Section: Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The T-shaped “axe” from Northeast Honduras: Observations on chronology and function of a pre Columbian stone tool

Healy

Savage

2021

JLS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper provides a description and analysis of a distinctive type of pre-Columbian stone tool, usually termed a T-shaped axe, found almost exclusively in Northeast Honduras, Central America. There have been very few detailed or technical studies of lithics from Honduras. Early archaeological research and the current understanding of the regional prehistory are included, with Northeast Honduras viewed as a frontier zone located between the Mesoamerican and Isthmo-Columbian culture areas. Our study examines, in particular, a collection of these tools curated today at the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (CUMAA). The 39 (whole and fragmentary) specimens were collected between 1937 and 1939, from the Bay Islands, Northeast Honduras, but have never been published. This paper classifies the collection specimens into five varieties, based on morphology, with sample statistics, form dimensions, and illustrations provided for each. Manufacturing technology is primarily percussion flaking. The tool type is compared with similar specimens excavated and described from the Bay Islands and adjacent Honduran mainland, and with similar appearing implements from elsewhere in Central America. Insights about the possible age and function of these unusual, and distinctive, lithics are included. Based on preliminary macroscopic and microscopic analyses, it is concluded that the tools may have been employed as agricultural implements (hoes or spades), primarily for digging activities, rather than as axes or weapons used for cutting and slicing. It is most likely that these implements first appeared about 800 CE, and continued in use until at least 1400 CE. The tool type is most probably a local (not imported) product. More functional analysis is encouraged.

show abstract

Excavating in Museums: Notes on Mississippian Hoes and Middle Woodland Copper Gouges and Celts

Cited by 12 publications

References 4 publications

Chert hoes as digging tools

Chert hoes as digging tools

Mill Creek Chert Hoes and Prairie Soils: Implications for Cahokian Production and Expansion

The T-shaped “axe” from Northeast Honduras: Observations on chronology and function of a pre Columbian stone tool

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About