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 14WC408
Date: 1000-1500 CE
These scrapers were collected from an archeological site near the Smoky Hill River in Wallace County and donated in 2018 to the Kansas Historical Society. 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.

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.

Alibates Scrapers from the Wells Site, 14BT404
Date: 1650-1750 CE
These scrapers were collected from the Wells village site in Barton County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2021. Scrapers such as these would have been hafted on a handle and used to scrape hides. They would have required periodic resharpening. All 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 people living in the village. The village site had an abundance of artifacts that reflect not only a Dismal River aspect occupation (1650 - 1750 CE) but also a historic component.

A Lithic Collection from 14CT312
Date: 1-1000 CE
These three chipped stone tools were collected from an Early Ceramic period archeological site in Chautauqua County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1976. Shown from left to right is an alternately beveled knife, a scraper, and a large corner-notched dart point fragment. Repeated sharpening on the knife's alternate sides created the bevels. Scrapers, such as this one would have been hafted onto a handle and used to scrape hides. The scraper would have required periodic resharpening. The dart point and the alternately beveled knife get their pinkish color as a result of the material being carefully heated before manufacturing to improve the chert's knapping qualities. Dart points would be mounted to the dart foreshaft, which would in turn be connected to the dart shaft. The assembled dart would then be thrown with an atlatl (spearthrower).

A Lithic Collection from Archeological Site 14RN309
Date: 1000-1800 CE
These scrapers and alternately beveled knife fragments were recovered from an archeological site in Reno County. The scrapers are made of Flint Hills region chert and the knife 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 had multiple occupations (multicomponent) and was occupied periodically during the Middle and Late Ceramic periods.

Artifact Collection from 14JW304
Date: Unknown
These five artifacts show the variety of the collection from an archeological site in Jewell County. On the top row, from left to right, is a scraper and modified flake made of Florence chert and a biface made of Smoky Hill silicified chalk. On the bottom row, left to right, is a beveled knife, a projectile point preform, and an expanding stemmed dart point fragment, all made of Smoky Hill silicified chalk. Florence chert outcrops in the Flint Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma. Smoky Hill silicified chalk is a good quality knapping material that is exposed in linear beds in northwestern Kansas and western Nebraska.

Artifact Collection from 14MY395
Date: 1-1900 CE
These three artifacts were collected from an archeological site in Montgomery County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1975. The site was listed as an Early Ceramic period site, but with the inclusion of the Historic pipe it shows that people were at the site long after that time period. Shown are a small scraper made on Permian chert, a corner notched dart point made on heat treated Permian chert, and a fragment of a molded ceramic pipe bowl.

Artifact Collection from 14OB302
Date: 1000-1500 CE
Sometimes even a small collection of artifacts can help Archeologists learn about what activities occurred at a site. For example, the artifact collection from 14OB302 only contains three artifacts: a flake, an endscraper and a pottery rim. The flake is of Smoky Hill silicified chalk, which outcrops in western Kansas. The endscraper, however, is made Florence chert, which outcrops in the Flint Hills to the east of Osborne county. Finally, a rim sherd from a ceramic vessel was also recovered. The collared rim was cord marked on the exterior and had a series of parallel lines on the interior. Archeologists can use the rim sherd to date the site to the Middle Ceramic period. Perhaps the people at the site used (or lost) the endscraper to process a hide, in addition to making and discarding a large flake of the local material.

Artifact Collection from Rock Creek in Pottawatomie County
Date: Unknown
These 16 lithic artifacts were donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1964, sadly, with no further provenience than that they were collected in the 1930s from a site west of Louisville, Kansas, along Rock Creek. The collection includes hide scrapers, knives, and corner notched dart points. Two of the dart points were reworked into another tool, perhaps after breaking. Several of the artifacts show a pink color, an indication they were heat treated prior to their completion in order to make it easier to knap.

Artifacts from a Lithic Workshop, 14GO405
Date: Unknown
Shown are some of the artifacts collected from a lithic workshop and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1986. Those shown here were all made of Smoky Hill silicified chalk and include scrapers, bifaces, and modified flakes. Smoky Hill silicified chalk is often referred to as Smoky Hill Jasper and numerous other names. The chert outcrops in Gove County and many other western and north central Kansas counties. Shown here are some of the wide variety of colors found in this chert.

Chipped Stone Tool Cache from the Mem Site, 14MN328
Date: 1500-1800 CE
These three tools from a cache were excavated in 1986 during a highway salvage project at the Mem site. The three tools were recovered from a large bell-shaped storage pit. Shown here is a biface, which with more work could have been turned into a specific tool, a chipped stone axe, a cutting tool that has two indented areas on either side of the middle where the tool was hafted to a handle, and a large scraper. Archeologists theorize that large scrapers such as this one may have been used when intensive hide scraping activities were occurring. The Mem site, in Marion County, is a Great Bend aspect, ancestral Wichita village. The project was undertaken by Kansas Historical Society archeologists and Kansas Anthropological Association volunteers.

Chipped Stone Tool Collection from 14CW301
Date: 1000-1500 CE
This collection of chipped stone tools was recovered from a Middle Ceramic period site in Crawford County. Shown is a triangular arrow point, an alternately beveled knife, and an end scraper, all made of material that had been previously heat treated to improve its knapping qualities.

Chipped Stone Tools from the Pratt/Wing Site, 14PT1
Date: 1300-1500 CE
Shown in this slide is some of the chipped stone tools that were recovered from the Pratt/Wing Archeological Site. The Pratt site was a Pratt Complex Middle Ceramic Period village in Pratt County. The slide shows an assortment of chipped stone tools including side notched arrow points, drills, scrapers, hafted knives, alternately beveled knives and Harahey knives.

Deer Mandible Tools from the Country Club Site, 14CO3
Date: 1400-1725 CE
These two deer mandible tools were excavated from a Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) village site in Cowley County during Phase IV archeological investigations in 1995. One mandible is nearly complete, the other has the horizontal ramus. Both mandibles show signs of modification and polish. The smaller one seems to have been stabilized with a wash of glue. Tools such as these could have been used as hide scrapers, corn shellers, or as an agricultural tool to aid in planting seeds. The site had been much impacted by a water line, golf greens, roads, and highways. Excavations had been occurring at the site since 1916.

Diminutive Scrapers from the Tobias Site, 14RC8
Date: 1400-1700
These diminutive scrapers were recovered at the Tobias site in Rice County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2020. Scrapers are used to scrape hides and would have required periodic resharpening. These small scrapers may have had an unknown special use or been made for children's use. 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.

Elk Antler Scraper Handle from the Thompson Site, 14RC9
Date: 1500-1800 CE
This elk antler scraper handle was recovered from the Thompson site in Rice County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1963. The elk antler would have been smoothed and shaped and had a hide scraper attached to the base of the tine. A series of incised lines were added to the underside. The site, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, was a Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) village occupied during the Late Ceramic Period.

End and Side Scraper from 14WO306
Date: 1000-1500 CE
The scraper shown here was recovered from an archeological site in Woodson County, thought by the archeologist who discovered it to represent a Pomona occupation. The scraper is made of Permian chert and had been heat-treated prior to its completion to make it easier to knap. Scrapers may have been hafted onto a handle and used to scrape hides. They would have required periodic resharpening.

Gravers from the Paint Creek Site, 14MP1
Date: 1500-1800 CE
These three gravers, sometimes called perforators, were collected at the Paint Creek village site in McPherson County, Kansas. They were donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1971. Gravers are a chipped stone tool with a sharp point used to cut softer materials than the stone. These were made on scrapers, originally used to scrape hides. 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.

Lithic Collection from 14RP313
Date: 1000-1500 CE
These chipped stone tools are part of the lithic collection from an archeological site in Republic County occupied during the Middle Ceramic period. Shown here are a side-notched arrow point made of Smoky Hill silicified chalk from western Kansas and Nebraska, a heat treated scraper made of Permian chert, and two pieces of debitage, one of which has also been heat treated.

Modified Bone Tool
Date: 1000 CE-1800
This modified bone tool was recovered from a site in Edwards County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1995. Originally it was likely either a deer or bison scapula that was modified into a hoe. At some point the hoe broke and this piece was then modified into a scraping too, as is evidenced by the beveled edge. The donor of the piece may have varnished the tool. There are also fibers adhering to the back of the tool.

Round Scraper from the William Young Site, 14MO304
Date: 4250 - 2850 BCE
This round scraper was recovered on the surface of the William Young site in Morris County by Kansas Historical Society archeologists. Scrapers such as this one would have been hafted on a handle and used to scrape hides. It would have required periodic resharpening. The William Young site is a Munkers Creek phase habitation site. The Munkers Creek phase describes a stone tool technology restricted primarily to the Flint Hills. During this time most of North America was in a prolonged drought so severe that Archeologists thought people left the Plains. Munkers Creek artifacts show that people stayed, but they may have chosen their habitats carefully.

Scraper form 14GT301
Date: Unknown
This small scraper was recovered from a Prehistoric camp site on a bluff south of the Cimarron River in Grant County. The scraper is made Alibates Agatized Dolomite, found along the Canadian River in Texas, and a highly prized trade item.

Scraper from 14CW315
Date: 1-1000 CE
This scraper was recovered from a village site in Crawford County. The scraper is made of Permian chert from the Flint Hills region and has been heat-treated prior to its completion in order to make it easier to knap. Scrapers may have been hafted onto a handle and used to scrape hides. They would have required periodic resharpening.