14MP1, Paint Creek Site Effigy or Chipped Stone Tool?
Date: 1500-1800 CE
This artifact was found at the Paint Creek village in McPherson County. It was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1971. Archeologists sometimes ponder how to classify an artifact: is this an effigy or a chipped stone tool? The Paint Creek site is what archeologists call part of the Little River Focus of the Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita), whose people practiced fishing, hunting, gathering, and agriculture.

1972 Excavations at the Hamon Site, 14JF350
Date: 1972
Shown are images taken during the excavation at the Hamon site in Jefferson County by Kansas Historical Society archeologists and volunteers in 1972. The Hamon site has multiple components (occupations) in the Early Ceramic period and multiple activities areas representative of lithic and ceramic production. Shown are two excavation progress views of the site, a chipped stone point in situ, and a view to the northwest across the nearly complete structure floor.

1983 Excavations at the Lebeau Site, 14NT301
Date: 1983
Shown are eight images taken during the excavation at the Lebeau site in Norton County during the Kansas Archeology Training Program field school in 1983. The Lebeau site has an Upper Republican aspect house with two interior hearths that was occupied during the Middle Ceramic Period. Shown are two aerial views of the site, several volunteers excavation one of the numerous pits, and views of five pits showing dog bones, a bird skeleton, a bison skull, stones, and rim sherds.

1988 Excavations at the Hallman Site, 14HP524
Date: 1988
Shown are six images taken at the excavation at the Hallman site in Harper County during the Kansas Archeology Training Program field school in 1988. Shown are views of a digging stick tip, a bone complex, a canid skull, and a arrow point, all in situ. Additionally there is a progress view with volunteers excavating and an aerial view of the finished excavation. The site dates to the Bluff Creek complex in the Middle Ceramic period and it's people practiced a mixed economy of hunting, gathering, and some horticulture.

3/4-Grooved Axe from 14AT444
Date: 1-1000 CE
This axe was collected from a possible Early Ceramic period site in Atchison County and donated in 2018 to the Kansas Historical Society. While 3/4-grooved axes are frequently recovered from late Archaic sites, their use is not restricted to that time period. They get their name from the hafting groove that encircles 3/4 of the body of the axe. Axes like these are made by pecking a hard stone into a rough shape and then grinding and polishing it into its final state.

3/4 Grooved Axe from 14WY308
Date: 1-1500 CE
This 3/4 grooved axe was collected from a multicomponent site in Wyandotte County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1973. While 3/4 grooved axes are frequently recovered from late Archaic sites, their use is not restricted to that time period. They get their name from the hafting groove that encircles 3/4 of the body of the axe. Axes like these are made by pecking a hard stone into a rough shape and then grinding and polishing it into its final state.

3/4 Grooved Axe from Douglas County
Date: Unknown
This 3/4 grooved axe was collected in Douglas County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1923. While 3/4 grooved axes are frequently recovered from late Archaic sites, their use is not restricted to that time period. Axes like these are made by pecking a hard stone into a rough shape and then grinding and polishing it into its final state. They get their name from the hafting groove the encircles 3/4 of its body.

3/4 Grooved Axe from Geary County
Date: Unknown
This 3/4 grooved axe was found in Geary County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1963. While 3/4 grooved axes are frequently recovered from late Archaic sites, their use is not restricted to that time period. Axes like these are made by pecking a hard stone into a rough shape and then grinding and polishing it into its final state. They get their name from the hafting groove the encircles 3/4 of its body.

3/4 Grooved Axe from Jefferson County
Date: 7000 BCE-1 CE
This 3/4 grooved axe was collected from a sand bar in Jefferson County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2015. While 3/4 grooved axes are frequently recovered from late Archaic sites, there use is not restricted to that time period. Axes like these are made by pecking a hard stone into a rough shape and then grinding and polishing it into its final state. As the axe was made seven small concavities were revealed in the stone. Axes like this one get their name from the hafting groove the encircles 3/4 of its body.

3/4 Grooved Axe from the Collins Site, 14DP1306
Date: Unknown
The 3/4 grooved axe shown here was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1979. It was collected from an archeological site in Doniphan County with multiple occupations. While 3/4 grooved axes are frequently recovered from late Archaic sites, there use is not restricted to that time period. Axes like these are made by pecking a hard stone into a rough shape and then grinding and polishing it into its final state. The groove would have been used to haft the axe to the handle.

3/4 Grooved Axe from the Plowboy Site, 14SH372
Date: 2000 BCE-1850 CE
This 3/4 grooved axe was collected from the Plowboy site in Shawnee County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2017. The Plowboy site was home to the Kansa, the Potawatomi, and Euro-Americans. At various times, the site contained a farm, a trading post, and a post office with nearby military trails, Mormon routes, a railroad and the California-Oregon trail. Before all of this activity, other American Indians also occupied the site and created this groundstone axe. Axes like these are made by pecking a hard stone into a rough shape and then grinding and polishing it into its final state. They get their name from the hafting groove the encircles 3/4 of its body.

3/4 Grooved Axe from the Stricker Site, 14DP1319
Date: Unknown
This 3/4 grooved axe was collected from a multicomponent archeological site in Doniphan County and donated in 2018 to the Kansas Historical Society. The site had occupations from the Archaic through the Historic periods. The axe was from one of the older time periods. While 3/4 grooved axes are frequently recovered from late Archaic sites, their use is not restricted to that time period. Axes like this one are made by pecking a hard stone into a rough shape and then grinding and polishing it into its final state and get their name from the hafting groove the encircles 3/4 of its body.

3/4 Grooved Axes From Doniphan County
Date: 7000 BCE-1 CE
These four 3/4 grooved axes were collected from the White Cloud, Kansas area by antiquarian Mark E. Zimmerman (1866-1933), who donated them to the Highland Mission (now called the Iowa Sac and Fox Mission). Traces of the collector's marks (yellow paint) and labeling are faintly visible on some of the axes. While 3/4 grooved axes are frequently recovered from late Archaic sites, they are also found from other time periods. Axes like these are made by pecking a hard stone into a rough shape and then grinding and polishing it into its final state. They get their name from the hafting groove the encircles 3/4 of the axe's body. It is unknown if these four axes were found near each other, but they all are quite similar in size, ranging from 12.8cm - 11.2cm in length, 7.7cm - 6.6cm in width, and 4.5cm - 3.6cm thick.

3/4 Grooved Axes from the Dickerson Site, 14AT346
Date: Unknown
Little is known regarding these 3/4 grooved axes from the Dickerson site in Atchison County. They were donated in 1878 to the Kansas Historical Society. While 3/4 grooved axes are frequently recovered from late Archaic sites, their use is not restricted to that time period. Axes like these are made by pecking a hard stone into a rough shape and then grinding and polishing it into its final state. They get their name from the hafting groove the encircles 3/4 of the body.

3/4 Grooved Axes from the Dickerson Site, 14AT346
Date: Unknown
These 3/4 grooved axes were recovered from the Dickerson site in Atchison County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1878. While 3/4 grooved axes are frequently recovered from late Archaic sites, their use is not restricted to that time period. Axes like these are made by pecking a hard stone, in this case igneous rock, into a rough shape and then grinding and polishing it into its final state. These axes get their name from the hafting groove the encircles 3/4 of its body.

Abrader from 14HV301
Date: 1000-1500 CE
This sandstone abrader was recovered from a Middle Ceramic period site in Harvey County. Archeologists call abraders groundstone tools as they are shaped by grinding. This sandstone abrader has been used to sharpen another tool, such as a bone needle or awl.

Abrader from the Minneapolis Site, 14OT5
Date: 1232-1409 CE
This abrader was recovered from the Minneapolis archeological site in Ottawa County during excavation in 1934 and was donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1987. Archeologists call these groundstone tools as they are shaped by grinding. Sandstone abraders could be used as pairs, one on each side, to smooth a wood shaft. The Minneapolis site was a Smoky Hill aspect village occupied during the Middle Ceramic time period.

Abrader from the Paint Creek Site, 14MP1
Date: 1500-1800 CE
This Sioux quartzite abrader was excavated at the Paint Creek village in McPherson County. Archeologists call abraders groundstone tools as they are shaped by grinding. This abrader has been used to sharpen another tool, such as a bone needle or awl. The Paint Creek site is what archeologists call part of the Little River Focus of the Great Bend Aspect (ancestral Wichita), whose people practiced fishing, hunting, gathering, and agriculture.

Abraders from 14CW301
Date: 1000-1500 CE
These abrader fragments were recovered from a Middle Ceramic period site in Crawford County. Archeologists call these abraders groundstone tools as they are shaped by grinding. The sandstone abraders could be used as pairs, one on each side, to smooth a wood shaft or individually to sharpen or smooth other items.

Abraders from 14SA409
Date: 1-1500 CE
These three abraders were recovered from the surface of a Saline County camp site and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2017. The site was occupied during the Upper Republican and Smoky Hill phases in the Early and Middle Ceramic periods. Archeologists call these groundstone tools as they are shaped by grinding. The sandstone abraders could be used as pairs, one on each side, to smooth a wood shaft.

Abraders from the Fanning Site, 14DP1
Date: 1500-1700 CE
These abraders were recovered from Doniphan County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1981. Archeologists call these abraders groundstone tools as they are shaped by grinding. The sandstone abraders could be used as pairs, one on each side, to smooth a wood shaft or individually to sharpen or smooth other items. The Fanning site was a Late Ceramic to early Contact Period village occupied by the Kansa.

Abraders from the Killdeer Site, 14CO501
Date: 1500-1750 CE
These two abraders were among the many that were recovered during the 1994 Kansas Archeology Training Program field school at the Killdeer site, since destroyed by construction. Archeologists call these groundstone tools as they are shaped by grinding. The sandstone abraders could sometimes be used as pairs, one on each side, to smooth a wood arrow shaft. The Killdeer site was a Lower Walnut focus Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) site in Cowley County with numerous pits, basins and post molds.

Abraders from the Kohr Site, 14SA414
Date: 780-860 CE
These abraders were collected in the 1930s from Kohr House No. 1, a large village site in Saline County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1971. Archeologists call these groundstone tools as they are shaped by grinding. The sandstone abraders could be used as pairs, one on each side, to smooth a wood shaft. All four artifacts were made of Dakota sandstone. The two on the bottom row are in the process of manufacture, enabling us to see how they were made. The Kohr site was occupied by Smoky Hill aspect people and had several rectangular houses. Radiocarbon dates on maize indicate it was occupied during the Early Ceramic period.

Abraders from the Lamar Site, 14OT304
Date: 1000-1400 CE
These three abraders were excavated in 1935 from the Lamar site in Ottawa County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1971. The Smoky Hill phase occupation site had a single, almost square, house and four cache pits. Archeologists call these groundstone tools as they are shaped by grinding. The sandstone abraders could be used as pairs, one on each side, to smooth a wood shaft.

Abraders from the Nulik Site, 14SR305
Date: 1000-1500 CE
These four abrader fragments were recovered during excavations by Kansas Historical Society archeologists at the Nulik site in Sumner County. Archeologists call these groundstone tools as they are shaped by grinding. The sandstone abraders could be used as pairs, one on each side, to smooth a wood shaft. The excavations revealed a Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) house and associated midden (refuse heap or mound).