Un-notched Wing Bannerstone - #3-1

Size: 5 1/4" long x 2 3/8" wide.

Provenance: Ohio. Purchased from Bennett's artifacts..

Condition: Excellent. I love the "waves" running across the wings on this piece. Finish is a high polish with a fully drilled hole. A great banner form, and a good buy.

Price: $600

More evidence that I am ate up: I cropped out this area on the bannerstone, b/c I swear it looks like a person wearing glasses. Feel free to tell me I am crazy:

Other Side:

Salvaged Pick Bannerstone- #3-2

Size: 2 1/4" long x 1 1/4" wide.

Provenance: Found in Madison County, Indiana.

Condition: Super. This bannerstone was broken on the center hole. The prehistoric owner worked down the break into a smooth end, and kept right on using the object. This salvage job is much better and more elaborate than usually seen. Salvaged slate is a favorite type of many collectors, b/c it shows the importance of the object to spend time repairing it.

Price: $75

Loafstones, Bar Weights, and Preform Bannerstones - #3-4

This grouping is all being offered for sale in individual listings. Picture above shows the entire group. I wanted to write a brief description of these artifacts b/c they are among my favorite forms. I recently purchased a large group(14, which is the most I have seen in one place), and my shelves are full. I removed many great examples, and didn't pull them off the bottom.

Loafstones- Considered by many archaeologists to represent the earliest form of bannerstones. Several were discovered at the Fisher Site in Kentucky by Webb in 1947. They were found in-situ with Early-Mid Archaic burials. These forms were underappreciated as oddities until scientists discovered their usage as atl-atl weights. Since that time, the prices have steadily climbed. I bought most of my examples when they were still unexpensive, and I will pass this on to you.

Why I collect Loafstones?- The range of materials and form are tremendous. No two are alike, but all conform to the same overall specification. Some have grooves, some have scooped bottoms, some are notched, some are engraved, some are highly polished, some have a high dome, some are thin, some are made from hematite, or granite, or quartz, or barite, or slate, or sandstone, or gneiss, or Ohio pipestone. I am not sure, but I think I own one of the largest collections of these enigmatic forms. You get the idea. I think everyone should own one!

Boatstone like Loafstone - #3-8

Size: 2 9/16" long x 1" tall.

Provenance: Found near the town of Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Butler County. From the well known old time George Roberts collection.

Condition: Perfect. They don't get much better than this example. It is made of an off white high grade quartz with a heavy tan/brown patination over the top. It is perfect in form, and has a scooped out bottom. Don't let anyone tell you this is a preform boatstone. The body is too thin to accomodate deep scooping or drill holes. This is a highly developed loafstone.

Price: $SOLD> THANK YOU>

Picture showing bottom: Camera does not want to show the "scoop", but it is prominent in hand.

Polished Limestone Plummet - #3-7

Size: 3" long x 1 3/16" wide.

Provenance: I purchased this piece about 15 years ago, and I did not keep proper records. As such, I have no find data.

Condition: Perfect. This piece is a long flatter form made of a high grade sandstone with quartz flecks within the material. This one ranks in the upper 20% of all loafstone examples.

Price: $125

Preform Gneiss Bannerstone - #3-8

Size: Each side is right about 1 7/8" long.

Provenance: Found in Ohio County, Kentucky by Steve Dowell. I purchased from Steve at his private artifact dispersal before the large scale public auction held in 2006 at Old Barn Auction. Piece was pictured in Jim Bennet's book Authenticating Indian Artifacts on Page 190 as an example of an authentic preform bannerstone.

Condition: Excellent. This artifact shows all the attributes of a great authentic piece of gneiss. The coolest feature is the started drill hole. Anyone familiar with prehistoric drilling techniques will note right away that this one was being drilled using a hollow reed system that produces the signature center nipple.

Price: $SOLD> THANK YOU.

Drilled Galena Boat-Loaf - #3-9

Size: 2 5/8" long x 7/8" wide.

Provenance: Found in Woodford County, Kentucky. Pictured in Indian Bannerstones by Jim Bennett on Page 87.

Condition: Good. The only damage on this piece is from the erosion of the galena over a thousand years in the ground. Galena is basically lead ore, and it degrades easily. This one is extremely rare, b/c it is not completely degraded or broken. 90% of these are found broken at the holes. As for the typology, the books say that this is a boatstone b/c it is drilled. I still call it a loafstone, just with a different hafting system than most. For the record, most collectors would disagree with me for calling it a loafstone.

Price: $SOLD> THANK YOU>

Salvaged Birdstone Parks Collection- #3-10

Size: 4" long x 1 1/2" wide.

Provenance: Found in Ontario, Canada. Collected by the famous birdstone collector Cameron Parks.

Condition: Salvaged. This is a very unique piece. I am not 100% positive if it started out as a birdstone or became one after the prehistoric owner salvaged it. It has a wonderful mouth, eyes, nice undercut jaw line, is covered in tallies, and is authentic.

Price: $SOLD> THANK YOU>

More Pictures:

Green Hardstone Loafstone - #3-11

Size: Eyelash shy of 2" long x 1 3/4" wide x 1" tall.

Provenance: Found in Hamilton County, Ohio.

Condition: Excellent. Undamaged example with a nicely polished bottom, and an interesting flat area along the top of the piece. For those who don't know my collecting taste, I have a strong affinity for Loafstones. I cabinet at least 50 examples, and find each one to be unique. Loafstones are considered to be one of the earliest atl-atl weights, and may date back to the invention of the atl-atl.

Price: $75

Picture showing Flat Bottom:

Long Hematite Loafstone - #3-12

Size: 3 1/4" long x 1" wide.

Provenance: I bought this in 2004 from an ebay attic collection(they are out there). Family history listed piece as Southern Ohio.

Condition: Perfect. The ends show a little bit of wear, but it is well polished over from use. This loafstone is very long, and very heavy for the type. It borders on the bar weight category. High grade polished hematite, and no brainer old.

Price: $SOLD> THANK YOU>

Loafstone - #3-14

Size: 3 3/8" long x 1 3/8" wide.

Provenance: Piece was found at Merion's Farm in Franklin County, Ohio before 1920. Doctor Gordon Meuser collection #113/5. This is an extremely early number for the Meuser collection, and tells me that it was collected before 1920. This piece is also unique in the Meuser catalog, b/c it is one of a very few that is drawn from the early numbers. Copy of Meuser catalog and drawing are included with piece.

Condition: Good. Bob Converse in Ohio Slate Types declared inscribed bar weights to be the rarest of all Ohio problematicals. These pieces are so rare that very few collectors even know how to type them. If you read Ohio Slate Types, this piece is literally the blueprint for the type. I have owned 2 over the years, and I saw another one sell at the famous Tiell auctions in 2009.

Price: $300

Picture showing Meuser writing:

Loafstone made from salvaged Celt/Axe - #3-16

Size: 1 3/4" long x 1 7/16" tall.

Provenance: Southern Ohio.

Condition: Good. This one is very interesting b/c it appears to be made from a broken stone tool. The bottom has a much higher polish than the rest of the piece. Beautiful salt-n-pepper material.

Price: $50