ARKANSAS Woodland Period DISCOIDAL

These are some of the earliest known pre-historic stone tools that can be found in Arkansas. This one was found on the hill behind my house a few months back, by me while metal detecting. I knew that it was something different, but it wasn’t until I did some reasearch that I found out what it really is. I might add that I live near a lake surrounded by ozark forest woodlands…

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This would have been used to grind Hickory Nuts, Acorns, and Walnuts and would have been a main tool in the female indians kitchen utensils.

NOTE: Mine has not been certified authentic, but based on internet research, and comparisons with known examples / descriptions, I believe this one to be 100% authentic. When you hold it in your hand it is ergonomically correct. There is a small dimple on the top of the stone, as well as a dimple in the underneath side which is also stained from I believe to be black walnuts or acorns based on those types of trees located in the immediate vicinity of where I found the stone.

Reading certificates of authenticity on other known examples, This one has everything that you would expect it to have, and nothing that you wouldn’t expect. I will get it graded one day, but for now, here it is:

Woodland Period Cultures: Village Farmers
600 B.C-A.D. 1000

The Woodland period is a label used by archaeologists to designate pre-Columbian Native American occupations dating between roughly 600 BC and AD 1000 in eastern North America

Around 600 BC, Native Americans in Arkansas were probably living in small groups tied together by collective ritual, including burial that sometimes involved the construction of small mounds

The key staples of the Early Woodland diet in the Midsouth were hickory nuts, acorns, and white-tailed deer, and this was probably the case throughout much of Arkansas.

Archaeological evidence from Searcy County, Arkansas indicates that Native Americans cultivated domesticated lambs quarters, squash/gourds, marsh elder, sunflowers, and maygrass by around 1200 BC.

Woodland Indians major food producing activities included hunting and trapping, fishing, wild plant food gathering, and gardening. The gathering of wild plant foods (especially nuts) and gardening became more important, taking away from the time and effort devoted to hunting and fishing in earlier periods.