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Analyses of this basic household tool kit reveal a lot about how Mississippian commoners lived their lives. For example, analysis of chert hoes and hoe fragments from the American Bottom shows the following:

Mill Creek Chert hoes and hoe fragments, Lohmann site.
  • Broken chert hoes and hoe fragments litter higher ground in much of the American Bottom. They are found in great numbers in both archaeological surveys as well as excavations of residential sites.
  • Broken chert hoes and hoe fragments are often highly polished and show signs of frequent re-sharpening.
  • Most hoes are made of a high quality, fine-grained chert from southern Illinois, Mill Creek Chert.
  • Caches of two or more Mill Creek Chert hoes are known from archaeological sites. Even broken hoes were cached for later use.
From these analyses we can infer something about Mississippian behavior, lifeways, and knowledge:
  • Chert hoes were not discarded haphazardly. Rather, they were highly valued tools that were commonly re-sharpened to extend their use-life.
  • Not all chert performed equally well for hoeing fields.
  • Mill Creek chert was actively sought after as a raw material to fashion hoes. This fact further suggests either an extensive trade in Mill Creek chert between individual Illinois Mississippian settlements, elite-directed trade in hoes manufactured by specialists, or the frequent travel of one or more household and/or community members to Mill Creek chert quarries to quarry and fashion hoes.

Drawing of chert hoe, Marge site.
In summary, these analyses indicate that agricultural activities were an important aspect of Mississippian life.

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