I was inspired by Marc's recent report on Yucca preperation in South America.
I recently spent 70 minutes with the Cahokia family in Illinois who was also preparing some different foods..





This is a good shot of a fire hearth ( as opposed to a fire rock midden )


The village flint knappers' wares were always in demand



The largest surviving mound is a true monumental achievement. The Chief really had a good view of the
city of St Louis....
The sky finger on the right is a 20th century mound the local people there are now erecting for future generations to marvel at..



That finger mound turned out to be the St L land fill ( trash dump )...



The Park Ranger asked me to pose for this shot and took the picture...
He said he could see a slight resemblance to the ancients in the nose features



For those that might ask " Whats a Cahokia ? "
Google ;; " CAHOKIA INDIANS "

only the nose, knows.

Hal, that is ironic you posted the CAHOKIA trip I was walking creeks and searching plowed fields about an hour and a half west of St. Louis all day yesterday. Found a few artifacts. We are leasing some land for hunting season and walked some of the property yesterday. Artifact hunting comes with the price of the deer and turkey hunting!

Lucky you Trav, thats a nice part of the world, even the ancients thought so

Very cool Hal. I would really like to go there and see that. Always fun to put a face with the artifacts. I think that part of the country is under snow now.

Yeah Hal, this country has an artifact system of its own. Just as everyone in Texas is familiar with Texas artifacts the people of the midwest have the same knowledge about their early people and artifacts. A lot more plowed fields and turned over soil offer more places to look without digging. Many creeks are full of artifacts. One other thing you see around here is the amount of trade artifacts from other tribes and the Europeans. With the Mississippi River, Missouri River, and Kansas river it was a major trade route for indians, settlers, trappers, traders, and explorers. See a lot more trade beads, pipes, game balls, etc. than in Texas. The flat white flint objects in your picture of the native knapping an arrowhead that look like small paddles are actually gardening hoes. You see a lot of those in peoples collections around here. I have my Texas collection that I love. But I am quite fond of my midwest stuff also. Different colors and artifacts. Many collections you see have 3/4 grooved axes and different celts. That is one cool thing the plows bring up. Man the polished axes are something to behold. Some people I have met mainly collect the axes. They bring premium prices in good condition. You would be amazed at the number of axes people have around here. They are kinda like our Kerrville Knives. If you live in the midwest and collect artifacts your collection is not complete without a 3/4 grooved axe! Too bad I am one of those with no axe. At least not yet. But then again I only work here about half of the year so my chances are not as good as the native people of the midwest.