STONE DISC PALETTE
CAMPBELL SITE

PEMISCOT COUNTY, MISSOURI
RETURN TO PAGE 1

COPYRIGHT OCTOBER 31, 2011 PETER A. BOSTROM

    This is an especially fine example of a stone disc palette. It was excavated in 1975 on a large Mississippian site in Pemiscot County, Missouri called the Campbell site. This palette is most interesting because it was buried with a late period catlinite disc pipe. The pipe dates to about the sixteenth or seventeenth century but it's believed that the palette dates to sometime between AD 1200 to 1400. It would appear that the palette was an antique or heirloom object at the time of it's burial with the pipe. This palette was discovered in association with a burial along with a large catlinite disc pipe that measures as long as the palette is wide. It was also found with several disintegrated copper plates and a large quantity of red ochre. The pipe was found laying directly on top of the palette with the disc side down. The Campbell site disc has three engraved circles near the edge on one side and two on the other. The edge has fifteen evenly spaced notches around the perimeter and X's are engraved on the edge between each notch. The Campbell site disc is made of a highly fossiliferous stone that appears to be limestone and it measures 7 1/2 inches (19 cm) in diameter.

Stone disc palette from the Campbell site in Missouri.

 RECENT LISTINGS  HOME  ORDERING