These four pipestone artifacts may well represent work lost or discarded before they could be finished. They were excavated in 1986 during a highway salvage project at the Mem site, undertaken by Kansas Historical Society archeologists and Kansas Anthropological Association volunteers. The pipe shown here is made of Kansas pipestone and was not well cleaned, as it was hoped that the material inside the pipe might be analyzed in the future. The soft fine grained material of pipestone enabled the pipe's maker to carve it easily. The Mem site, in Marion County, is a Great Bend aspect, ancestral Wichita village site.
Kansas Memory
Kansas Historical Society
Shaped Pipestone Artifacts from the Mem Site, 14MN328 - 1