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Bone & Shell Artifacts


Marine shell beads.


Mississippian people used a wide variety of bone and shell artifacts for both utilitarian and non-utilitarian purposes. Decorative bone and shell artifacts are particularly important because of what they tell us about Mississippian religious beliefs and world view (SCTY). Bone and shell tend to degrade quickly compared to stone artifacts, so the archaeological sample of these decorative bone and shell artifacts is no doubt biased towards materials preserved in elite contexts.

Nevertheless, many bone and shell utilitarian implements are preserved in garbage pits, borrow pits used as garbage dumps, and other contexts. Some common Mississippian bone and shell tools include shell spoons, shell knives or scrapers (used to work wood, bone, and animal hides), bone needles, bone punches, antler billets (used to flake stone), antler pressure flakers (used in removing small flakes from stone tools), split-rib spatulas (used in pottery manufacture), deer mandible maize shellers, scapula hoes, and bone fishing hooks. Although all details of their use may never be known, the general function of most of these tools is self-explanatory.
Fresh-water mussel shell spoons.
Deer ulna punches.


Bone fish hook.

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