These bison scapula hoes were recovered from excavations during the 1977 and 1978 Kansas Archeology Training Program field schools at the Tobias site in Rice County. The makers of the hoes removed the long spine that runs the length of the scapula (shoulder blade), beveled and sharpened the edge, and hafted it to a handle. 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.
Kansas Memory
Kansas Historical Society
Bison Scapula Hoes from the Tobias Site, 14RC8 - 2
