Axes and Celts

***UNDER CONSTRUCTION*** (11/2019)
The assemblage recovered to date from 38FA608 includes two items classified as axes/celts.  Both of these artifacts were recovered from stratigraphic contexts indicating that they are Woodland/Mississippian in age.
Axe/Celt (1476.1960). Item 1476.1960 is a chipped stone axe/celt that was crafted from a slab or cobble of metavolcanic rock. Overall, the tool is plano-convex in cross section, having apparently been entirely shaped by chipping the edges of the original slab or cobble.  The bit of the axe flares out from the body and terminates in a dull point. The bit is somewhat asymmetrical in cross-section, suggesting classification as a celt may be appropriate. The edges of the sides and the poll are relatively steep and were shaped by chipping. There is no evidence of grinding anywhere on the tool.  The tool could have been hafted or conceivably have been handheld. ​

​This tool was recovered in situ from deposits directly below the lower plowzone (Zone 2), adjacent to and slightly below the large, plow-scarred quartz cobble in Unit 3 that marked the base of the lower plowzone. Given the presence of triangular projectile points in Zone 2 and the presence of a Woodland feature that originated below the depth of this artifact, the axe/celt dates to sometime during the Woodland period.
Axe/Celt (1549.2086). Item 1549.2086 is a chipped stone axe/celt that was created from a cobble or slab of metavolcanic rock. The bit edge of the tool is the only completely flaked margin: the other margins retain unflaked and/or fractured surfaces. The scars of the flakes removed to shape the tool do not extend past the midline of the tool. The bit edge is curved. The margin of the proximal end of the tool is a fractured and unflaked, suggesting the poll may have been broken off. There is no groove or waist to facilitate hafting. The cross section is plano-convex.
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This tool was covered at the interface of levels 3 and 4 in Unit 3, at the interface of Zones 2 and 3.  Its stratigraphic location at the base of the lower plowzone and the unplowed sediments beneath dates the artifact to sometime during the Woodland period.