Investigating Hopewell interaction at the Crib Mound Site through source analysis of chert cache bifaces

Summary

The prehistoric cultures of the Middle Woodland Period (200 BC – AD 350) have been a central research focus in North American archaeology since the 18th Century. One trademark of these culture groups, commonly referred to as "Hopewell", is the presence of extensive social networks as evidenced by large amounts of exotic materials acquired from great distances. Chert cache discs found in the thousands in burial contexts are reported to have moved along these social networks. Both Wyandotte (Ste. Genevieve) chert from Indiana and Cobden (Upper St. Louis) chert from Illinois are commonly cited sources for Hopewell cache discs. However, few analytical source studies examine the source of chert to verify the purported long distance movement of the raw material. The study analyzes a sample of Hopewell cache discs found at the Crib Mound Site, Indiana. Hundreds of chert discs were excavated by artifact collectors but can still inform us about exchange relationships with contemporaneous groups from the Illinois Valley or a reliance on more localized deposits.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16153