PAGE 1
DUCK RIVER CACHE
LATE MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD
HUMPHREYS COUNTY, TENNESSEE

EST. AD 1450
PAGE 1 OF 2 PAGES
COPYRIGHT JANUARY 31, 2008 PETER A. BOSTROM
Duck River Cache "Swords," abstract image.
DUCK RIVER CACHE "SWORDS"
(
ABSTRACT IMAGE)
MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD

HUMPHREYS COUNTY, TENNESSEE
FRANK H. McCLUNG MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
(THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE)

Duck River Cache "Swords," abstract image.

ABSTRACT
THE DUCK RIVER CACHE
MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD
HUMPHREYS COUNTY, TENNESSEE

    The Duck River Cache was discovered in 1894 by an employee who was working on the farm in western Tennessee. The 46 "ceremonial" artifacts that make up the flaked stone bifaces in the cache date to the Late Mississippian period. The artifacts in this cache are famous for their size, variety of forms and superb craftsmanship. The largest "sword" measures 28 inches (71.1 cm) long.

    "In the late 1880's, an archaeological discovery was made in Humphreys County, Tennessee which was said at that time to be the greatest single archaeological find ever made in the United States. This discovery,----was later to become known as the "Duck River Cache----."---1981, H. C. Brehm, "The History Of The Duck River Cache," Miscellaneous Paper No. 6, Tennessee Anthropological Association, p. 1.
    "The oval, double-pointed "flints," (swords) are, as far as known, the finest examples of flint chipping that have been discovered in North America and, possibly in the world."
---1897, William J. Seever, The Antiquarian, "A Cache Of Idols And Chipped Flint Instruments In Tennessee," p. 145.
    "The remarkable length of the objects (Duck River Cache "Swords") would at once suggest coarseness, but the chipping is as remarkable as the extreme length of the objects---."----1897, William J. Seever, The Antiquarian, "A Cache Of Idols And Chipped Flint Instruments In Tennessee," p. 145.
    "In December, 1894, an employee of Mr. Links, while plowing in this field (
on the Links farm), turned up several implements. Their form and size being unusual, time was taken to dig, and the objects (Duck River Cache)----were found"---1897, William J. Seever, The Antiquarian, "A Cache Of Idols And Chipped Flint Instruments In Tennessee," p. 141.
    "A remarkable and unexplainable feature of the find is, that with the exception of the long, slender, double-pointed specimens, all the forms, with one exception, are in pairs of two of each form."
---1897, William J. Seever, The Antiquarian, "A Cache Of Idols And Chipped Flint Instruments In Tennessee," p. 142.

Etowah Mounds site "sword," abstract image.

DUCK RIVER CACHE
MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD
HUMPHREYS COUNTY, TENNESSEE

   Caches of Stone Age artifacts, from all cultural time periods, have been found in North America. They are most often found by the public on land that's been disturbed by farming or construction or by soil erosion. The most reliable information about caches can be found in published reports that describe archaeological excavations. Most of the caches that contain flaked stone artifacts are represented by simple and small tools that relate to utilitarian purposes. They may contain raw materials in the form of flakes or preforms or tools that could be used for hunting or processing food. But the Duck River Cache represents a smaller percentage of caches that apparently contain objects that relate to ritual applications.

Duck River cache artifacts, museum exhibit.
CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGER IMAGE
DUCK RIVER CACHE
(McCLUNG MUSEUM DISPLAY)
MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD
HUMPHREYS COUNTY, TENNESSEE
FRANK H. McCLUNG MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
(THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE)

     This picture shows the Duck River Cache on display at the Frank H. McClung museum at Knoxville, Tennessee. The cache was discovered in 1894 by an employee on a farm in western Tennessee. The cache contains 46 bifaces that were flaked into many different "exotic" forms that have been interpreted as "ceremonial objects." The cache was discovered on a farm owned by Mr. Banks Links. They were found on land that is described as "having been in cultivation for many years, wagon-loads of flat rocks used in building the graves have been carted off and the human remains scattered." It's interesting to note that there is no specific mention of any human remains found directly with the Duck River Cache. It's also reported that "Other "swords" and maces were found in caches during the 1936 archaeological explorations of the Link site mounds and habitations. One house-mound is reported to have yielded "four sword preforms."

      The Duck River Cache is one of the most famous flaked stone artifact caches ever found in North America. In fact, at the time of the discovery it was said, "to be the greatest single archaeological find ever made in the United States." The number of artifacts, the variety of exotic shapes, the quality of craftsmanship and their extreme size sets it apart from other caches.

Duck River Cache artifacts, museum exhibit.
DUCK RIVER CACHE
(McCLUNG MUSEUM DISPLAY)
MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD
HUMPHREYS COUNTY, TENNESSEE
FRANK H. McCLUNG MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
(THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE)

      The Duck River Cache is most extraordinary for the size of the cache, the variety of exotic shapes, the level of skill required to make them and their extreme size. These impressive qualities sets it apart from other caches. This picture shows the eleven "swords" in the cache and three of the four "eagle claw" effigies.

     The Duck River Cache was discovered in 1894 by either a black gentleman named Cave Nolan or by George Pewett. At the time of the discovery they were working as laborers on the Link farm in Humphreys County, Tennessee. The find was apparently made while cultivating a field. It was reported that, "the cache of 46 flint artifacts were enough pieces to fill a bushel basket." In 1895, the collection was purchased from W. H. Meadow and R. W. Childs by the Missouri Historical Society for $250. and displayed in St. Louis, Missouri for several years in the Jefferson Memorial Museum. Approximately fifty years later the Duck River Cache was returned to Tennessee where it's currently on exhibit in the Frank H. McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Eight Duck River Cache "swords."
DUCK RIVER CACHE
MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD
HUMPHREYS COUNTY, TENNESSEE
FRANK H. McCLUNG MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
(THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE)

     Of all the biface forms in the Duck River Cache the most impressive are the "swords." The eight examples illustrated here represent the work of a highly skilled flintknapper. Especially when you consider the fact that they were made from nodular Dover chert. Most of the large spades, hoes, and Ramey knives, that were produced from quarry sites in southern Illinois, were made from tabular Mill Creek chert. The natural structure of the raw material makes it far more difficult to produce a Dover "sword" from thick nodules compared to a Mississippian "sword" that was produced from flat tabular chert. The longest "sword" in the Duck River cache measures 28 inches (71.1 cm) long. Some of the lengths of the other "swords" are 14 3/4 (37.5 cm), 17 1/2 (44.5 cm), 18 1/4 (46.3 cm), 18 1/4 (46.3 cm), 18 1/2 (47 cm), 19 (48.2 cm), 19 (48.2 cm), 21 3/4 (55.2 cm) and 22 (55.9 cm) inches long.

     The Duck River Cache contains many very large "eccentric" bifaces. The longest example, a "sword," measures 28 inches (71.1 cm) long. There are only two locations in North America where bifaces have reach this extreme size. Their large size is directly related to the available raw material in these areas. The largest bifaces in North America were made in California from Obsidian. Most of the Duck River Cache bifaces are made from Dover chert, only a small number of them were made of Fort Payne chert. Although Dover chert outcrops in southern Illinois, western Kentucky and the Highland rim of Tennessee, the large quarry-workshops are located near Dover in Stewart County, Tennessee. In 1973, the Dover quarries were listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

CONTINUE ON TO PAGE TWO

"REFERENCES"

1897, Sever, William J., The Antiquarian, "A Cache Of Idols And Chipped Flint Instruments In Tennessee," pp. 141-145.
1897, Rust, Horatio N., The Antiquarian, "Survivals Of The Stone Age, And Evolution Of Certain Stone Implements," pp. 284-287.
1972, Compton, Carl B., Ten Years Of The Tennessee Archaeologist Selected Subjects, Vol. II, " Duck River And Similar Artifacts," pp. 196-201.
1972, Kneberg, Madeline, Ten Years Of The Tennessee Archaeologist Selected Subjects, Vol. II, " Engraved Shell Gorgets And Their Associations," pp. 231-269.
1981, Brehm, H. C., "The History Of The Duck River Cache," Miscellaneous Paper No. 6, Tennessee Anthropological Association, pp. 1-24.
1992, Gramly, Richard Michael, Prehistoric Lithic Industry At Dover, Tennessee, pp. 1 & 2.
2003, McClung Museum Website, "Archaeology And The Native Peoples Of Tennessee."
1980's, Personal communications with Larry Conrad.
The Tennessee Encyclopedia Of History And Culture, web site

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