The Native American tribes of what is now the southeastern
United States left intriguing relics of their ancient cultural
life. Arrowheads, spear points, stone tools, and other artifacts
are found in newly plowed fields, on hillsides after a fresh rain,
or in washed-out creek beds. These are tangible clues to the
anthropology of the Paleo-Indians, and the highly developed
Mississippian peoples.
This indispensable guide to identifying and understanding such
finds is for conscientious amateur archeologists who make their
discoveries in surface terrain. Many are eager to understand the
culture that produced the artifact, what kind of people created it,
how it was made, how old it is, and what its purpose was.
Here is a handbook that seeks identification through the clues
of cultural history. In discussing materials used, the process of
manufacture, and the relationship between the artifacts and the
environments, it reveals ancient discoveries to be not merely
interesting trinkets but by-products from the once vital societies
in areas that are now Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Mississippi, the Carolinas, as well as in southeastern
Texas, southern Missouri, southern Illinois, and southern
Indiana.
The text is documented by more than a hundred drawings in the
actual size of the artifacts, as well as by a glossary of
archeological terms and a helpful list of state and regional
archeological societies.