Caohkia Style Engraved Stone Tablets

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Cahokia Birdman Tablet is the iconic example of what defines this artifact category, with engraved graphics on the obverse and crosshatching on the reverse of a rectangular stone tablet. Other tablets from Mississippian contexts have similar combinations or variations of these three features. Some may only exhibit crosshatching on one or both sides. This study examines 40 examples of tablets, most that would qualify as Cahokia-Style with at least the rectangular form and either graphics or crosshatching, or some combination of those, while others are more “marginal” and a few “outliers” may include only one feature. The function of the tablets currently is unknown. About half have been recovered in excavations but not in contexts that imply function, with one possible exception. Most are made of sandstone or other abrasive stone, but they do not appear to be abraders, as the crosshatching grooves are usually uniform in depth and width, unlike the usual abraders that have tapering grooves in irregular patterns. Those with graphics may have a more ritual function while the others a more practical one.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38182.0