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 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).

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.

Abraders from the Wullschleger Site, 14MH301
Date: 1-1800 CE
These three Dakota sandstone abraders were collected from the Wullschleger Site in Marshall County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1961. Archeologists call abraders like these groundstone tools, as they are shaped by grinding. Some of the abraders could be used in pairs, one on each side, to smooth a wood shaft. The village site was occupied periodically from the Early Ceramic to the Late Ceramic periods.

Central Plains tradition Abrader from the Wollenberg Site, 14WH319
Date: 1280-1400 CE
This abrader was recovered from the Wollenberg village in Washington County in 1991. 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.

Central Plains tradition Abraders from the Wollenberg Site, 14WH319
Date: 1280-1400 CE
These three abraders were recovered from the Wollenberg village in Washington County in 1991. 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.

Groundstone Tool from 14EK303
Date: 1000-1500 CE
This groundstone tool was collected from the surface of a Middle Ceramic village site in Elk County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1975. The multipurpose tool was used as an abrader on two sides and as a mano, the upper hand-held millstone for grinding foods and pigments. Some staining appears on three sides of the groundstone tool that may be pigment residue.