Date: 900-1700

 

Description: This rather unassuming stone is actually a celt, or an ungrooved stone ax head. A celt was attached to a handle by wedging the blunt end (the shorter side, or left side in this example) into a piece of wood that had been drilled with a hole for the ax head to fit. An alternative was to split a sapling of a tree, place the celt in the division, and have the tree grow around it and then cut down to fit. During prehistoric times celts were extremely sophisticated technology, and different human populations developed it at different times. Later peoples developed grooved ax heads, with grooves near the base to help hold the ax head in the handle. This celt is most likely from one of the prehistoric Siouxland tribes: the Great Oasis, Mill Creek, or Oneota.

 

Donor information not available.

 

On display