This gorget was recovered from the Oliphant site in Labette County during excavations in 1973 by Kansas Historical Society archeologists. The gorget is made of polished shale with a hole drilled in one end. It probably represents less than half of the complete ornament. The gorget was recovered from a midden (refuse heap) outside a house. The Oliphant site was a Cuesta phase Pomona variant habitation site occupied during the Early and Middle Ceramic periods. Cuesta phase sites are the earliest sites in southeastern Kansas with recognizable remains of houses, pottery, and domesticated plants, including maize. They date from 800 to 1000 CE.