Another Mississippian site that produced shark teeth was excavated by the "Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program" and director Don Booth. This site is called the "Janey B. Goode" site and is located just west of Cahokia Mounds. It's reported that this site produced shark teeth and also alligator teeth. These shark teeth were described as ornamental.

     Although shark teeth have never been found at Cahokia that directly relate to arrow points, effigies of them have been found that most probably once tipped the ends of arrows. They made these points out of bone and stone and they are very rare. Only a handful have survived. Although there's probably no more than a dozen of them, there are more examples of bone shark tooth effigies than examples made from stone.

  Shark tooth effigy arrow points stand out fairly dramatically over the more common triangular Madison points found at Cahokia. The most obvious difference is the very deep concave base and the second is the serrated blade edges. Both of these traits directly relate to the physical shapes of different species of shark teeth.

   The use of "exotic" trade materials like shark teeth by some Mississippian people must have been impressive to the people around them. Exotic trade items used by all cultures going back to the days of the Neanderthals, especially jewelry, were status symbols. On some Pacific islands, only high status individuals were allowed to use shark tooth clubs. At Cahokia, where people would have been familiar with the more common teeth from animals like dog, ground hog or deer, a shark tooth could have been a badge of honor. But it may have been even more, as early accounts of similar weapons on far away places like Hawaii have been described---"Though shark tooth weapons were used to carve flesh from the bones of human sacrifices, they were primarily used as combat weapons. Owing to the special skills and materials involved in their manufacture, and their relationship to ritual sacrifice, they were probably used only by ranking chiefs or ali'i." (Elder, John C., pp.76-77)

"REFERENCES"

1946, Metraux, Alfred, "Handbook of South American Indians," "The Guaitaca," Vol. 1, The Marginal Tribes, page 522.
1946, Metraux, Alfred, "Handbook of South American Indians," "The Teremembe" Vol. 1, The Marginal Tribes, page 573.
1948, Lothrop, Smuel K. "Handbook of South American Indians," "The Archaeology of Panama," Vol. 4, The Circum-Caribbean Tribes, page 155.
195-, Perino, Greg, "Cahokia Brought to Life," page 66 & 67.
1972, Willey, Gordon R. "The Artifacts of Altar De Sacrificios," "Pierced Animal Teeth," page 239.
1975, Gilliland, Marion Spjut, "The Material Culture of Key Marco Florida," page 205, 215 and 217.
1978, Kaeppler, Adrienne L., "Artificial Curiosities," "An Exposition of Native Manufactures Collected on the Three Pacific Voyages of Captain James Cook, R.N.," pages 107-111.
1983, Morse, Dan F. and Phyllis, "Archaeology of the Central Mississippi Valley," page 163.
1990, Edler, John Charles, "Art of Polynesia," pages 76-77.
1995, Meyer, Anthony J.P, "Ocienic Art," Vol. II, page 579.
2003, Pawlaczyk, George, "Archaeological Site Turns Up Thousands of Ancient Artifacts" belleville.com "Belleville News-Democrat."
Personal communications with Larry Kinsella.

HOME    ORDERING