Almost Thrown Away - The Artifact of a Lifetime	by Thomas Oakes
Central States Archaeological Societies 2022 January Journal	Leton, Louisiana

This excerpt from "Almost Thrown Away - The Artifact of a Lifetime" published in the 2022 Central States Archaeological Societies 2022 January Journal Read this and mores in the Central States Archaeological 2022 January Journal which can be purchased on-line after March 2023
One face of the Hourglass bannerstone. It was found near Barnes Creek in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana. It measures 3”(l) x 2 5/16”(w) x 13/16”(h). It is made from brownish claystone.

Every once in a while an artifact comes along that has a great story attached to it. This is one of those stories that will be hard to top in my humble opinion. First let me set the stage for how an artifact this rare (and probably one of, if not the best, to come out of Beauregard Parish, Louisiana) almost got tossed into the creek as if it were nothing more than something out of place on a camp-site that many were digging arrowheads on.

Jet back to the early 1980s for this tale and how it unfolded. Many of us in our area had been bitten by the arrowhead bug. We knew nothing about anything except if it was worked and had notches, it was an arrowhead and something we were after. There was no internet for us to reference anything or ask questions of knowledgeable people. None of us had any books on the subject, nor did we know anyone with more than a couple of months experience at this than what we had. If it wasn’t a worked piece of chert with notches, a hammerstone or a grinding bowl, we discarded it as we had no clue as to it being an artifact. I’m sure we threw away a few celts (although they are beyond rare in southwest Louisiana. thirty-five years of hunting there, and I have yet to personally find one.), discoidals and other hardstone pieces that we had no clue as to being artifacts. We knew nothing of the various time periods in regards to the different types. All we knew was that a San Patrice looked like a wolf head. We used to take turns shoveling and running the screen and would flip for first pick from our haul at the end of the day. We would have unknowingly picked a pretty, well-made bird point over a Clovis without having any clue. We were ignorant of value and rarity. With that being said, here is the story of an hourglass bannerstone that almost got tossed into the creek.

It was around 1985 when one of my good friends and digging buddies, Todd Haymon, dug this bannerstone up in south Beauregard Parish. It was about 30” deep, and he found arrowheads above. There was a broken one reworked into a chisel tip laying with this piece. When he unearthed it, his first thought was ....

 

Read other great columns in the Central States Archaeological Societies 2022 January Journal which can be purchased on-line after March 2023