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The making and meaning of a Mississippian axe-head cache

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2015

Timothy R. Pauketat  and
Susan M. Alt
Timothy R. Pauketat
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Department of Anthropology, 109 Davenport Hall, MC-148, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
Susan M. Alt
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Department of Anthropology, 109 Davenport Hall, MC-148, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
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Abstract

The recent discovery of a cache of 70 groundstone axe-heads at the Grossmann site, near Cahokia, in the Mississippi valley prompts a new interpretation of the commemorative and ritual value of such deposits. The makers of these axe-heads seem to belong to a community of specialists who had a contributory role in the foundation of the Cahokia polity.

Keywords

MississipianCahokiaaxe-heads
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 78 , Issue 302 , December 2004 , pp. 779 - 797
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2004

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