Mississippian Era Mill Creek chert hoe

One evening last summer I was walking my chocolate Lab, Abbie, through a recently disked field just a few days after a decent rain.� I was looking for prehistoric artifacts; she was looking for something to sniff.

This particular Southeast Missouri field sprawls across a hill roughly 200 yards from a sizeable creek that meanders to the Mississippi River, and bottomland�lies between the hill and creek. We hadn�t found anything noteworthy until we were ready to quit for the evening.

Just before heading off the hill I noticed a gray piece of rock poking out of the soil.� At first glance it looked as if it were a nodule with some flakes removed.

After washing off the artifact I became curious as to what the piece was and later sent a picture of it to a Missouri archeologist.�� He said it was a Mill Creek chert hoe from the Mississippian Culture (roughly 800 to 1,600 years ago.� Think: Cahokia Mounds).

Submitted photo

An Internet search for Mill Creek chert hoes shows some wonderfully made pieces of agrarian tools, but my find was a little less intriguing because t�s broken. There are a couple varieties of hoes � flared, notched, oval.� Even though part of the hafting portion of this piece had broken off there was enough left to tell that it was a notched hoe.

Mill Creek chert takes its name from the material source in southern Illinois, Mill Creek, which is near Jonesboro.� There are several great articles on the Internet that describe the collection, distribution and use of Mill Creek chert.

I�ve found a couple other intact hoes that are elongated or flared, but with this one, at least, I have some confirmation of what it is and when it was used.� A planter could have hafted it to an angled tree branch and used it to dig holes for planting beans, corn or squash.

Finding any artifact while out roaming the hills with Abbie is always worth the effort.� And when we find a piece that can tell a story of the past, then we�re that much more content with our outdoor travels.