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The Identification of a Prehistoric Bone Tool from the Midwest: The Deer-Jaw Sickle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

James A. Brown
James A. Brown*
Affiliation:
Illinois State Museum, Springfield, Illinois
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Abstract

Worked deer jaws have been found in a large number of sites in the Plains and Midwest, and a variety of functions have been attributed to them. This paper singles out a typologically well-defined group of deer jaws from Mississippian sites and argues for their identification as sickles. The argument is confirmed by the pattern of wear that appeared on an experimental deer-jaw sickle made by the author. The striations that appeared on the buccal surface constitute the most conclusive evidence linking the experimental tool with the archaeological specimens.

Type
Facts and Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , January 1964 , pp. 381 - 386
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1964

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