LaSalle County, Illinois Bannerstone

[Hippy]

Here's one of my favorite banners that was found in Otter Creek Township, LaSalle County, Illinois in 1969. It's made from an unusual material for northern Illinois. Banded claystone banners are more common down in southern Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas, but rarely seen up North. Typically they are made from slate in this area, and to a lesser extent hardstone. It's pretty likely this was a trade piece into the area.

The finish is incredible and the banding really pops with these great pictures taken by a good friend of mine.

Hippy

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[welsbury]

Extra nice,great pic.

 

[quito]

Wow! Spectacular!

Looks like something a banded pipestone could look like. Very cool!

 

[Direwolfin]

Wow! Spectacular!

Looks like something a banded pipestone could look like. Very cool!

I really hope to find one of these someday!! Its a beauty

 

[arrow86]

That is really unique ..... great find

 

[Huzzah!]

Exceptional!

 

[joshuaream]

Awesome piece Jeff.

I’ve never seen one that far north.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Beautiful piece Jeff. That banding is amazing.

 

[Indian Steve]

What a Work of Art!

 

[reuellis]

Dang, that is beautiful. Hard for me to see that as a hunting weight for an atlatl. The craftsmanship is remarkable.

 

[ToddsPoint]

That's a really nice piece. Claystone? Maybe. It looks more like quartzite to me. Looking at it under magnification, claystone would show no grains at all. If quartzite, you should be able to see the individual grains of sand surrounded by matrix. The orange with purple banding is fairly common in quartzite found in the glacial till. Northern IL would have this rock as I have it here in Cent. IL.

I've done experimental archaeology for a long time. Here's a banner I made from similar quartzite. Gary

 

[sandchip]

Dang, that is beautiful. Hard for me to see that as a hunting weight for an atlatl. The craftsmanship is remarkable.

As I mentioned in another thread on discoidals, I believe you have examples that were made for utility, others for presentation. A more modern analogy would be your everyday tote gun, a little worse for the wear, maybe a spot of rust here and there, and your engraved, gold inlaid revolver that's never fired a round, locked away and cared for like a baby. I agree that seeing that bannerstone used in everyday hunts is hard to fathom, and feel that it more than likely was made as a gift for an elder or someone of great importance in the tribe, complete with a finely finished hardwood handle and maybe an engraved hook.

 

[monsterrack]

That is a super fine artifact. Thanks for posting it.!!!!!!!

 

[Plumbata]

Wow that's a beauty! It looks a lot like Catlinite but even more appealing, does that banded mudstone (argillite?) have the same general softness and buttery carving properties as Catlinite or does it work differently? Is there an outcrop in Southern Illinois/Missouri or were they made from loose glaciated cobbles? I'd love to collect some to carve if you know where it comes from.

 

[tamrock]

Boy that's some eye candy

 

[pickaway]

Beautiful artifact

 

[ToddsPoint]

I still say it's quartzite. A common material for butterfly and hourglass banners. I doubt siltstone would take that high of a polish. Here is another piece of orange and purple banded quartzite from my rock pile. Not polished of course but I'd bet it's the same or similar stuff. Gary