This bird effigy platform pipe is reported by William Fecht to have been found on the Snyders site. This example is made of clay and it's one of the very few complete pipes that were found of the site.

Flintknapping tools made of antler were also discovered on the Snyders site. The early descriptions of these short sections of deer antler were usually handles or unknown use. Today, we know that at least some of these these six or seven inch long antler segments were most probably used as billets or hammers. They were used to do the heavier percussion flaking when making projectile points and other tools. Some of the deer times may also have been used as pressure flakers.

CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGER IMAGE
FRAGMENTS OF ELABORATELY
DECORATED HOPEWELL POTS
SNYDERS SITE
CALHOUN COUNTY, ILLINOIS

This picture shows a group of Middle Woodland Hopewell pot sherds from the Snyders site. The Hopewell people made some of the most elaborately decorated ceramic pots in Illinois. The few complete examples were collected from burials in mounds. Hopewell pots were decorated by engraving, stamping, stick punctating nodes and negative painting. There are a large number of styles and designs. Some of them are, Havana bar-stamped, zone-incised, cord-wrapped-stick, punctate decorations, Havana chevron-dentate, Havana straight-dentate stamped, Havana crescent & ovoid-stamped, Montezuma punctated, Hopewell crosshatched, rocker-dentate, etc., etc.
The shard at lower right is Neteler Stamped. The shard second from bottom left is Naples Ovoid Stamped.

The most "exotic" flaked stone artifact found on the Snyders site was a Ross point. In fact, it's probably the most skillfully made Ross point ever found and one of the most skillfully crafted flaked stone artifacts ever found in North America. It was discovered by Dr. Paul F. Titterington in 1944 in mound C 114 located in the Snyders mound group on top of the bluff above the village site. The Snyders Ross point is also extraordinary for the material from which it is made. The material is Knife River chert that outcrops on ancient quarry sites in North Dakota, several hundred miles to the northwest.

HUMAN EFFIGY FIGURINE
KNIGHT SITE
CALHOUN COUNTY, ILLINOIS
PRIVATE COLLECTION

    This human effigy figurine is reported by Griffin to have been found with a child burial in mound C 8 on the Knight site in Calhoun County, Illinois. He reports that, "In the region were the lower left chest would have been there was an unpainted figurine of brown clay 2 11/16 inches (6.9 cm) high. The body of the figurine is a simple flat oblong shape, the only feature being a roughly conical projection in the shoulder region suggesting arms. The lips, eyes, and nose resemble those of the larger figurines but with less attention paid to detail. There is an incised line encircling the top of the head, possibly indicating hair or a head covering." He goes on to say that, "The figurine was found to be "practically untempered."
    The Knight site is another Hopewell site that is located just north of the Snyders site.
    William Fecht reported that two human figurines were found on the Snyders site. One is a very small example similar to the one illustrated here, but the head is missing. He describes the other example as, "The second is the bust section of a well formed female."

The second most spectacular group of stone artifacts found on the Snyders site is a cache of seven North points. The cache was found by Harvey Suhling in the Snyders village in area C as marked on the map in this article. These North points represent some of the finest flint-work ever found on a Hopewell site in Illinois. Their thinness for width ratio is quite exceptional. They are made from heat treated Burlington chert.

SNYDERS PLUMMETS
SNYDERS SITE
CALHOUN COUNTY, ILLINOIS

These three plummets are reported, By William Fecht, to have been found on the Snyders site. Greg Perino named this type of grooved plummet for examples found on the site. Several of these plummets were found with burials on the Snyders site. Snyders plummets were being made during the Middle to Late Woodland period and possibly earlier. An estimated date for these artifacts may be somewhere between 100 B.C. and A.D. 400.

A distinctive type of grooved plummet was named by Gregory Perino for several examples found on the Snyders site. Quite a few of them were found with burials on the site. Snyders plummets were made during the Middle to Late Woodland period and possibly earlier. An estimated date for these plummets may be somewhere between 100 B.C. to A.D. 450.

ENGRAVED SHELL
SNYDERS SITE
CALHOUN COUNTY, ILLINOIS
PRIVATE COLLECTION

This fragment of shell has some engraving. Engraved shell from the Snyders site is fairly rare. This example seems to have some form of stylized figures cut into the surface. The Snyders site is unique for its degree of preservation of many different types of organic materials.

Another of the more exotic materials found on the Snyders site is copper. The source for copper would be the Great Lakes region hundreds of miles to the northeast. Wadlow reports that copper artifacts were found in the Snyders mounds. He reports that 2 pairs of copper ear spools and one copper ax were found during the excavation of the mounds. Fecht also reports that copper artifacts were discovered in refuse pits and "plow levels" (maybe he means surface finds). From these locations he reports the discovery of one small copper celt and multiple copper awls.

MORSE KNIVES
SNYDERS SITE
CALHOUN COUNTY, ILLINOIS
LATE ARCHAIC
PRIVATE COLLECTION

These three Morse knives are reported to have been found by William Fecht on the Snyders site. They were found together in a cache.
Morse knives were named by Gregory Perino from examples found at the Morse site in Fulton County, Illinois. They date to sometime during the Late Archaic to the Late Woodland period.

Many people were drawn to the Snyders site for different reasons. Some were representing large institutions, others by an amateur society or club and a few were on their own. Although the archaeological investigations were disjointed, the combined reports by so many different excavations have left behind a wealth of knowledge. The names of Wadlow, Titterington, Perino, Struever, Fecht and Mr. Snyders will always be closely connected with this important site.

"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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