NORTH AMERICAN

Archaic Shell
Mounds of Kentucky

Grooved axes. Ground stone tools, like these full-grooved axes from Indian Knoll, became important parts of the hunter-gatherer tool kit during the late Middle and Late Archaic periods. Unlike projectile points that were manufactured by removing flakes to shape the implement, ground stone tools were shaped by grinding the object against another stone.
     Grooved axes were used for a variety of tasks, such as cutting down trees, constructing shelters, and making dugout canoes. The groove that encircles the "butt" end of the axe head was used to attach a wooden handle. Although some of the Green River grooved axes were made of local sandstone, others were made from igneous or metamorphic rock not found in the region. These nonlocal materials may have been acquired through intergroup exchange or collected from gravel bars along the Ohio River . The large grooved axe is 12.0 cm long.
by Richard Jefferies and James Fenton.

 

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