Native American, Midwestern to Southern United States, Eastern Woodland, Archaic Period, ca. 5000 to 1000 BCE. A bannerstone preform hand-knapped and polished from a large ovoid stone of a gray and white mottled hue. The notched area is deeply indented with a conical bore hole that extends about a third of the way into the stone- if intended to use as a bannerstone the maker did not complete the traditional perforation through both sides, hence the preform designation. Preforms may be unfinished for many reasons; sometimes these tools are discarded when a mistake is made while knapping or a flaw is discovered in the stone matrix. When finished, this may have had a more defined wing or butterfly shape, but regardless, this is an interesting look into the process of bannerstone creation. Size: 4.75" L x 0.75" W x 2.5" H (12.1 cm x 1.9 cm x 6.4 cm)

Provenance: private Kansas City, Missouri, USA collection; ex-John Townsend collection, formed in the 1970s and earlier.

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#162012

Minor nicks to peripheries, otherwise intact and excellent.