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These bone tools were collected from the Majors site in Rice County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1982. Shown are a rasp, an awl, and a polished hollow bone that may have been intended for bead manufacturing. The rasp was made by cutting grooves (five still present) into a bison rib. Archeologists believe that rasps could have been used as musical instruments by drawing a stick across the grooves. Awls are usually made from deer bone. They were used to make holes in soft material, like hides, and possibly in basket and pottery manufacturing. The Majors site was a Great Bend aspect, Little River focus (ancestral Wichita and Affiliated Tribes) site that was occupied during the late 17th century, based on southwestern pottery styles.
Date: 1500-1800 CE
Item Number: 510392
Call Number: 14RC2 1982.H Parrish donation
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 510392
Collections - Archeology
Objects and Artifacts - Archeological Artifacts - Artifact Class - Bone
Objects and Artifacts - Archeological Artifacts - Artifact Type - Awl
Objects and Artifacts - Archeological Artifacts - Artifact Type - Bead
Objects and Artifacts - Archeological Artifacts - Artifact Type - Rasp
People - American Indians - Prehistoric Cultures - Great Bend aspect
People - American Indians - Tribes - Wichita
Places - Counties - Rice
Thematic Time Period - Early Peoples, 10000 BCE - 1820 CE - Late Ceramic, 1500 - 1820 CE
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/510392