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.

1981 Excavation at the Kermit Hayes Site, 14RC306
Date: 1981
These images were taken at the Kermit Hayes site in Rice County during the Kansas Archeology Training Program field school in 1981. The site revealed two small Great Bend aspect, Little River focus grass-covered pit houses that included entryways, storage pits, post molds and hearths. Shown are the exposed floor of house 1 two volunteers excavating a trash-filled pit, volunteers exposing the floor of house 2, a detail shot of a storage pit in house 2, and the exposed floor of house 2.

1983 Excavations at the Crandall Site, 14RC420
Date: 1983
These images were shot at the Crandall site in Rice County during the 1983 Kansas Archeology Training Program field school. Shown are images of a bone complex in a pit, a volunteer excavating another pit, bison skulls in a different pit, and two general progress shots. The Crandall site is a Little River focus Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) habitation site.

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 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 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.

Abrader from the Bell Site, 14CM407
Date: 1000-1500 CE
This sandstone abrader was recovered from the Bell village site in Comanche County during the 1984 Kansas Archeology Training Program field school. 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 Bell site is a Middle Ceramic period Wilmore complex site occupied by people who gardened, fished, and hunted, primarily bison, in south central Kansas and north central Oklahoma.

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 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 Tobias Site, 14RC8
Date: 1400-1700 CE
Shown are a few of the many abraders and shaft smoothers recovered from the excavations during the 1977 and 1978 Kansas Archeology Training Program field schools at the Tobias site in Rice 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 or individually to sharpen or smooth items. The Tobias site is a Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) village that had dense artifact deposits, house remains, and numerous deep trash-filled storage pits. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Abraders from the Tobias Site, 14RC8
Date: 1400-1700 CE
Shown are four abraders recovered from the excavations during the 2019 Kansas Archeology Training Program field school at the Tobias site in Rice 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. The Tobias site is a Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) village that had dense artifact deposits, house remains, and numerous deep trash-filled storage pits. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Adze or Axe from 14MN328
Date: 1500-1800 CE
This chipped stone tool, possibly either an adze or an axe, was most likely used for woodworking. A fossil embedded in the chert was not removed by the original flintknapper. It was excavated in 1986 by Kansas Historical Society archeologists from 14MN328, a Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) site in Marion County.

Adze or Axe from the Country Club Site, 14CO3
Date: 1400-1725 CE
This chipped stone tool, either an adze or an axe, was most likely used for woodworking. It was excavated from a Great Bend aspect village site (ancestral Wichita) in Cowley County during Phase IV archeological investigations in 1995. The site had been much impacted by a water line, golf greens, roads, and highways. Excavations had been occurring at the site since 1916.

Alibates Core from 14PT420
Date: 1300-1500 CE
Shown is a core, a stone from which flakes are removed to make chipped stone tools. The core was recovered in 1994 by Kansas Historical Society archeologists at a Middle Ceramic period Pratt complex village in Pratt County. The parent material for this core is Alibates agatized dolomite from the Canadian River valley in the Texas panhandle. This suggests either trade with people further south or travel by Pratt complex people to the Texas panhandle.

Alibates Flint from 14RC410
Date: 1400-1499 CE
These fragments of flint were recovered in 1981 by Kansas Historical Society archeologists at an archeological site in Rice County. They are made of Alibates flint, a silicified or agatized dolomite from the Canadian River valley in the Texas panhandle. This suggests either trade with people further south or travel by the ancestral Wichita people living at the site to the Texas panhandle. The site is what archeologists call part of the Little River focus of the Great Bend aspect, whose people practiced fishing, hunting, gathering, and agriculture.

Alibates Scraper from the Tobias Site, 14RC8
Date: 1400-1700 CE
This scraper was collected from the Tobias site in Rice County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2020. Scrapers such as this would have been hafted on a handle and used to scrape hides. The scraper was made of Alibates Agatized dolomite, a silicified or agatized dolomite from the Canadian River valley in the Texas panhandle. The Tobias site is a Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) village that has dense artifact deposits, house remains, and numerous deep trash-filled storage pits. The site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Alibates Scrapers from the Saxman Site, 14RC301
Date: 1500-1650 CE
Shown are five scrapers that were collected from the Saxman site in Rice County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2017. Scrapers such as these would have been hafted on a handle and used to scrape hides. They would have required periodic resharpening. All five scrapers were made of Alibates flint, a silicified or agatized dolomite from the Canadian River valley in the Texas panhandle. The Saxman site, a large Great Bend aspect village, was occupied by ancestral Wichita peoples.

Alibates Scrapers from the Tobias Site, 14RC8
Date: 1400-1700 CE
These seven scrapers were excavated during the 1977 Kansas Archeology Training Program field school at the Tobias site in Rice County. Scrapers such as these would have been hafted on a handle and used to scrape hides. They would have required periodic resharpening. All seven scrapers were made of Alibates agatized dolomite from the Canadian River valley in the Texas panhandle. The Tobias site is a Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) village that had dense artifact deposits, house remains, and numerous deep trash-filled storage pits. The site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.