The pink Snyders point at top was found just east of the Snyders site in Jersey County. Both of the lower two Snyders points were found on the Snyders site either by Wayne Richardson or Bob Simons. These are "classic" examples of Snyders points. The longest examples measures 3 1/16 inches (7.7 cm) long and 1 13/16 inches (4.6 cm) wide.

Very few complete and well decorated Hopewell pots have been found in Illinois. Only one or two were found on the Snyders site. One of them is illustrated in this article. It was excavated in 1944 by Walter Wadlow from mound C 114. The decoration is identified as Havana Zoned Stamped.

CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGER IMAGE
CORES & LAMELLAR BLADES
SNYDERS SITE
CALHOUN COUNTY, ILLINOIS
MIDDLE WOODLAND HOPEWELL
PRIVATE COLLECTION

    In North America, core and blade technology solidly appears during the Early Paleo-Indian Clovis, again in the Eastern Middle Woodland Hopewell and, in a minor way with micro-blades on some Mississippian shell drilling sites. The three cores in this picture are surrounded by a large number of core blades, called lamellar blades. These were the most common knife form used by the Hopewell people. In 1961 William Fecht lists 47 different types of artifacts he recorded from the Snyders site. For lamellar flake knives, rather than a counted number he wrote in the number recovered as "many." Archaeologist Anta Montet-White wrote in 1968 that, "The small prismatic blades are the largest component of the Hopwellian industries. Specimens from burial sites show no visible traces of wear. Village assemblages yielded abundant series of unmodified blades as well as retouched specimens." Large numbers of them were found on the Snyders site.
    The Snyders site Lamellar blades were made from a wide variety of high quality cherts. Most of the examples found on the Snyders site were made from either Burlington, Cobden of Kaolin chert. The rich colors are the result of heating the chert to increase the workability of the stone.
   Greg Perino is reported to have found a cache of 22 very large flake tools in a storage pit on the Snyders site. They range in size from 4 3/4 (12 cm) to 6 11/16 inches (17 cm) long and from 1 9/16 (4 cm) to 3 1/8 inches (8 cm) wide (Montet-White: 1968). The core blades in this picture represent a normal range in size for these tools, from 1 1/4 inches (3.2 cm) long to 2 3/4 inches (7 cm) long.

The Hopewell people who once lived on the Snyders site left behind large numbers of stone tools. The most common are the lamellar core blades. Archaeologist Anta Montet-White wrote in 1968 that, "The small prismatic blades are the largest component of the Hopewellian industries. Specimens from burial sites show no visible traces of wear. Village assemblages yielded an abundant series of unmodified blades as well as retouched specimens." Large numbers of them were found on the Snyders site. Greg Perino is reported to have found a cache of 22 very large flake tools in a storage pit on the Snyders site. The large size would seem to be a misprint, but they were reported to range in size from 4 3/4 (12 cm) to 6 11/16 inches (17 cm) long and from 1 9/16 (4 cm) to 3 1/8 inches (8 cm) wide (Montet-White: 1968). A normal range in size, for those found on the Snyders site, would be from 1 1/4 inches (3.2 cm) to 2 3/4 inches (7 cm) long.

BONE, TEETH & SHELL ARTIFACTS
SNYDERS SITE
CALHOUN COUNTY, ILLINOIS

These five artifacts were found on the Snyders site. They illustrate how well the organic materials were preserved there. At top left is a carved bone comb or hairpin that was excavated by William Fecht. At bottom left is a carved bone effigy of a bear canine tooth and at bottom right a carved shell effigy of a bear canine tooth. Both are drilled for suspension. At top center is a drilled dog canine tooth. The object at top right is a deer toe bone or phalange that may have been used as a tinkler or game bone.

The Hopewell culture used several different types of colorful cherts. Many of the stone tools found on the Snyders site are colored with shades of pink, red, yellow, tan and gray. Most of the brighter colors, especially the red, pinks and yellows, are caused from heating the stone. This process can dramatically alter both the quality and color of the stone. A piece of Burlington chert that is almost white in color may become red, pink or yellow after heating. Heat treating also makes a piece of chert much more manageable to flake.

NORTH POINT
SNYDERS SITE
CALHOUN COUNTY, ILLINOIS
PRIVATE COLLECTION

This North Point was found many years ago on the Snyders site. These points were named by Gregory Perino in 1969. They date to the Middle Woodland Hopewell period sometime between 2100 and 1600 years ago. The type-site is located in Clinton County, Illinois where a cache of 53 North points were found in a mortuary context.
When North points are notched they become Snyders points. They are occasionally found in caches and are usually heat-treated. Some show evidence of use as knives. This North point is made of Burlington chert and measures 4 7/16 inches (11.2 cm) long and 2 3/8 inches (6 cm) wide.

The Snyders site is most famous for the projectile and knife form that bears its name. The Snyders point was named by Edward G. Scully in 1951 after the Snyders site. Snyders points are Middle Woodland points that are found over a wide area. They are reported from Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, northeastern Oklahoma, Missouri, northwestern Arkansas, and southeastern Kansas. Many Snyders points, especially the largest and thinnest examples were probably used as knives. The smaller more narrower versions were probably used as projectile points. One design problem that seems obvious is that they had a propensity to break their "necks." The Snyders site produce more Snyders points with bases broken off than complete examples.

CERAMIC POT
SNYDERS SITE
CALHOUN COUNTY, ILLINOIS
MIDDLE WOODLAND HOPEWELL
PRIVATE COLLECTION

This Hopewell vessel was excavated in 1944 by Walter Wadlow in mound C 114 on the Snyders site. The decoration is identified as Havana Zoned Stamped. It was made by engraving several curving lines and filling in some of the spaces by stamping an artistic design then stamping another pattern around the rim. Complete and nicely decorated Hopewell pots are very rare. This is probably the best example found on the Snyders site.

Another point type that is reported from the Hopewell component on the Snyders site are tapered Stemmed points. Perino describes them in 1955 as Gary points but in his 1985 point guide he does not list them from Illinois and comments, "Similar points found elsewhere are not Gary points and should be named according to their local cultural context." Many of the Snyders site stemmed points are probably Dickson points.

BONE AWLS & BARBED ANTLER POINTS
SNYDERS SITE
CALHOUN COUNTY, ILLINOIS
PRIVATE COLLECTION

The five bone awls in the center of this picture are typical examples from the Snyders site. They're common tools that were used for perforating soft materials such as hides.
Deer antler projectile points (at right & left) begin to appear on Late Archaic sites and disappear sometime late in the Woodland period. They were used on spears that were propelled through the air with the use of a spear thrower or atlatl. Much later, during the Mississippian Period a much smaller version was used on the ends of arrows.

Barbed antler projectile points were also found on the Snyders site. They were made from the tips of deer antler tines. The outside surface of the antler was not altered but the ends were hollowed out to insert the shaft of a spear. The ends were also cut at an angle to form a barb. Perino writes that, "The Hopewell at the Snyders site in Illinois made single-barbed antler points."

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"REFERENCES"

1952, Wadlow, W. L. "The Snyders Site," The Greater St. Louis Archaeological Society, p. 2.
1952, Griffin, James B., PhD, "The Snyders Site," The Greater St. Louis Archaeological Society, p. 2.
1961, Fecht, William G. "The Snyders Mound Group and Village Site," Central States Archaeological Journal, Vol. 8, No. 3, p. 84.
1961, Struever, Stuart PhD., "Further Excavations at the Snyders Site; An Analysis of Snyders Ceramics," Central States Archaeological Journal, Vol. 8, No. 3, p. 94.
1968, Montet-White, Anta, "The Lithic Industries of the Illinois Valley in the Early and Middle Woodland Period," pp. 93, 119 & 124-127.
1969, Fecht, William G. "Additional Information From The Snyders Site," Central States Archaeological Journal, Vol. 16, No. 2, p. 63-77.
1985, Perino, Gregory, "Selected Preforms, Points and Knives of the North American Indians, Vol. 1" pp. 17, 262 & 358.
2006, Farnsworth, Kenneth B., "Certain Hopewell And Late Woodland Sites In Illinois, Perino Memorial Volume," Introduction: Gregory Perino's Archaeological Career and Illinois-Excavation Photo Essay, p. 4, and The 1955 Snyders Village Site Excavations, Calhoun County, Illinois, pp. 71-80.
2006, Farnsworth, Kenneth B., "Certain Hopewell And Late Woodland Sites In Illinois, Perino Memorial Volume," The Snyders Site Walter L. Wadlow, pp. 120-126.

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