A Special Discoidal	by Anthony Havens
Central States Archaeological Societies 2021 October Journal	Collinsville, Illinois

 

It was around 20 years ago that I first learned one could acquire and trade Native American artifacts. Once I learned this, the relic world took off for me. One day I was looking through Who’s Who in Indian Relics Volume 5 and came across a picture of a man from my hometown. His name was Dale Van Blair. I got in touch with him and he was the first collector I met after Floyd Ritter, and Ben Thompson. These guys were all in books and were the collectors I wanted to meet.

Anyone who knew Dale knew he loved to bowl. We met at a bowling alley and had lunch. I picked his brain about relics. One of my favorite relics is the discoidal. I took one with me that he had owned and asked him about it. He gave me more history on it then I had known before, so I was pleased. I then asked if he had ever found one. Amazingly he said he found a one many years ago. He had gone fishing and the fish weren’t biting so he walked a field behind the lake and found the discoidal.

This was the piece that got him into collecting. I asked if he still had it, and he informed that he sold it several years prior to Floyd Ritter. Dale was Floyd’s ...

This excerpt from "A Special Discoidal" published in the 2021 Central States Archaeological Societies 2021 October Journal Read the complete column in the Central States Archaeological Societies 2021 October Journal which can be purchased on-line after March 2022

Front, back and side views of the Jeresey Bluff style discoidal found by Dale Van Blair in 1971.