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		| Five Chisel Cache
 | by Bruce Francis |  
	  | Central States Archaeological Societies 2025 October Journal | Carbondale, Illinois |  
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      | This excerpt from "Five Chisel Cache" published
            in the 2025 Central States Archaeological Societies 2025
            October Journal  Read the complete column in the Central States
            Archaeological Societies 2025
            October Journal which can be purchased on-line after March 2026 |  
      |   |  
      |   Figure 1.The top face of the cache of five chisels. |  On April 4th, 2012, my long-time friend, Jim, and his companion were hiking
    along the base of a small bluff line on private property in Jackson County,
    Illinois, when they noticed a small cavity in the rock at ground level. Jim
    described it as a space “…about big enough to push a wheelbarrow
    into." His companion crawled into the hole and began to scratch around,
    soon uncovering two flint chisels approximately six inches in length. The
    chisels were standing upright, just a couple of inches beneath the soil surface.
    They did not explore the space further, but hiked back to the house where
    his companion gifted Jim the chisels. Later that day, Jim called his brother
    and his father – his father being a relatively well-known avocational
    archaeologist and invited them to come and help fully explore the little
    cave. A few days later, they returned and excavated the floor of the small cave,
    finding three more chisels. These three were in the same spot as the previous
    two, but had settled horizontally in the soil rather than remaining upright.
    The arrangement of the five artifacts suggested that all had likely been
    buried together, standing upright, perhaps as if all had originally been
    in a pouch together. Beneath the chisels was a flat rock approximately 18
    inches in diameter and about two inches thick. The rock had evidence of
    red ocher staining. There was nothing else of consequence found in the cave,
    and sterile soil was evident beneath the flat rock, which was less than a
    foot beneath the surface.  These five chisels are extraordinary in several ways they are all made of
    Kaolin chert, a high-quality material found in southern Illinois – particularly
    in Union County, which is just south of the location where the chisels were
    discovered. Kaolin is found in eroded beds associated with Paleozoic limestone
    formations. This translucent chert ranges in color from white to various
    amber tones and was prized by the local indigenous people for its exceptional
    tool-making qualities and beautiful colors. Kaolin artifacts are still highly
    sought after by today’s collectors for the same reasons.  The chisels range in length from 5 ¼” to 6 ½”.
    An exceptional feature of this assemblage is that the chisel bits (e.g. working
    ends), are graduated by exact 1/8” increments, forming a “tool
    set” with bits of 3/4”, 5/8”, 1/2”, 3/8” and
    1/4”. All chisels are pristine with no damage. The bits on each chisel
    except for the 5/8” are highly usepolished, as are the high spots
    on both surfaces. The 5/8” tool, though just as perfect as the others,
    may have been broken and had to be replaced with a new one – also made
    from KaolinIt is my opinion that rather than being a cache 
  of indiscriminate preforms or a random bunch of chisels, 
  these are ...   Read other great columns in the Central States Archaeological Societies 2025
      October Journal which can be purchased on-line after March 2026            
 
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