From Quarry to Cornfield: The Political Economy of Mississippian Hoe Production

7. Hoe Production and the Domestic Economy

any of our survey sites, despite the fact that the grog-tempered ceramics of that era have a much better survival rate in the ground than do shell-tempered wares. Here it is worth noting that recent analyses of a sample of lithics from Wickliffe Mounds, only about 30 kilometers south of the source areas, indicate that Mill Creek chert hoe production debitage is absent from all Mississippian components, although recycling debris is commonplace (Koldehoff and Carr 2001). Thus, the®orescence of quarrying and the development of substantial workshops appear to occur early in the Mississippian period, and this development may signal the closure of access to the source areas to Mississippian groups outside of the uplands. Ancillary Activities That the Mill Creek workshops were not loci of highly specialized, intensive hoe manufacture is supported by other lines of evidence. It will be remembered that William Phillips (1900) found evidence that at least some of these sites were habitations as well. Despite the apparent poor preservation of shell-tempered ceramics in the local soils, a few of the sites did contain pottery. It thus appears that at least some of the workshops discovered in our survey were likely residential sites. The presence of activities unrelated to hoe manufacture is re®ected by the variety of other tools found on the workshops. Formal bifacial tools were extremely rare on the workshops, and it is possible that the long history of amateur surface collecting in the region has depleted the number of arrowheads and other bifaces. Given that these sites are primarily Mississippian, however, it can be expected that expedient tools would still represent the primary tool category. Table 6.8 clearly demonstrates the variety of ®ake tools found at all of the workshops. Utilized ®akes (n = 1,387) are the most numerous tools and represent about 62 percent of the total. This category includes ®akes that exhibit intentional retouch or else the kind of “nibbled ” margin that results from brie®y sawing or scraping with a ®ake edge. Flakes were also commonly used as scrapers at all of the sites (n = 362), comprising a little over 16 percent of all of the tools. These®akes exhibit the steeply beveled edge associated with hide working and similar activities. Notches (or spokeshaves), another common type, have a pronounced concavity along one or more of the ®ake edges. These are often assumed to have been used for shaving arrow shafts and other cylindrical objects. Gravers, used for scoring or perforating, were identi¤ed at all of the workshops except one, although they were less abundant than notches. Denticulates, presumably used for sawing, occurred at most of the sites, although in substantially smaller numRegional Structure of Production 151 bers than the other ®ake tool types. Multifunctional ®akes were also somewhat common. These exhibit two or more patterns of use, such as a notch on one margin and a steeply beveled edge on another. The ®ake tools were classi¤ed by general morphology and overt signs of use rather than microwear, and it is likely that a functional analysis of debitage under magni¤cation would have elevated the count even higher. It should be emphasized that the precise functions associated with these categories are open to question in the absence of detailed microscopic analyses. The important point for this study, however , is not the exact activities represented by the presumed functions of the tools and their relative proportions. Instead, it is that all of the workshops display evidence for a range of activities taking place in addition to the production of hoes and other large tools for export. It is quite likely that hides, wood, and other materials were transformed at these loci into items of everyday use. It has been observed elsewhere that quarry and workshop sites may demonstrate signs of manufacturing activity beyond the production of stone tools, the logic being that groups may have taken advantage of a ready abundance of raw material and stone tools to carry out tasks not so easily accomplished at living sites where stone might be in short supply (Gramly 1984). Although this rationale does make sense for mobile hunter-gatherers, a more likely explanation for sedentary groups is that the mixture of workshop debris and items not being produced for export re®ects the juxtaposition of ®intknapping and living areas (see, for example, Shafer 1985). REGIONAL CONSIDERATIONS At this point it is useful to step...