Late Archaic Native American Bannerstone - Kentucky

Native American, Late Archaic. A compact bannerstone of dense, dark stone, ground into a smooth, swelling ovoid and drilled straight through the center with a clean cylindrical bore. The maker pecked and abraded the stone into shape, then polished it to a soft, even sheen, rounding the ends into gentle shoulders around the perforation. Bannerstones are among the most recognizable ground-stone forms of the Archaic Eastern Woodlands. They are most often read as weights slid onto the shaft of an atlatl, or spear-thrower, though some scholars argue they served as spindle weights, status objects, or ceremonial pieces. This example is a sturdy, plain, barrel-like form rather than one of the dramatic winged types, and it shows the patient lapidary work that went into even everyday Archaic stone objects. Drilling a bannerstone was slow work. Archaic craftspeople probably used a hollow cane or a solid stick spun with sand and water as an abrasive, and grinding a single bore could take many hours. Unfinished examples found across the Ohio and Tennessee River valleys show a central core left standing inside a partly drilled hole, which is clear evidence that hollow drills were used. The bannerstone's purpose is still one of the long-running debates of North American archaeology. Specimens found lying along decayed atlatl shafts in Kentucky shell-midden burials, such as those at Indian Knoll, support the spear-thrower theory. Other researchers argue the weight did little for a throw and see these stones as social or ritual objects instead. The western Kentucky and Tennessee River region, where this example is recorded as found, was a major center of Late Archaic bannerstone production. Item # 199464

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