Miniature Mississippian Monolithic Axe Pendants

By Dr. Sandy B. Carter Jr, Big Canoe, Georgia

A pre-contact Native American monolithic axe refers to an axe made from a single type of material,
typically stone. and is a ritual or symbolic weapon rather than a utilitarian object. Several articles in the archaeo­logical literature haw summarized the proveniences and provenances of traditional/standard monolithic axes ranging in size from 9-16 .. in length (Refs. 1-3) and this anicle documents the transition from standard size to miniature size. Dr. Kevin Smith documents the size eYolution o,·er time of Mississippian maces from large [AD 1050-1150] to small [AD 1300-1500] (Refs. 4-5): Bro”n and Kelly (Ref. 6) and Brain and Phillips (Ref. 7) describe the evolution from long handle spatu­late celts [AD 950-1150] to short handle spatulate celts [AD 1400-1650]: Dr. David Dye feels the same prin­ciple applies to monolithic axes decreasing in size from AD 1300 to AD 1650 (Ref. 8).

This paper documents six miniature monolith­ic axes that were worn as pendants. It is observed that each pendant was suspended with the end of the axe’s handle in an -Upside down .. position. Dr. Michael Gram­ly notes that “the orientation of symbols as a key for interpreting their meaning cannot be overemphasized.” He feels the inverted position of a suspended figurine -might have commemorated a dead ancestor” (Ref. 9). Perhaps an inverted monolithic axe pendant celebrated an elite ancestor interred with a large ceremonial mono­lithic axe.

Figure I shows a limestone pendant (2¾”) that was found on a Middle Mississippian site in Colbert County, Alabama near the Tennessee Jtiver (Refs. 10- 13 ). It was found by A.W. Beinlich, Jr. in 1956. Adjacent sites in Colbert County have evidence of the Moundville culture (Ref. 13) and ii is reasonable to assume the wear­er of this miniature pendant was venerating an ances­tor interred with a larger traditional monolithic axe I 25 miles south at Moundville (Figure 2).

Figure 3 shows a red jasper monolithic axe pendant (3 ¼”) that was found by Paul Weirich near Stewman Creek and the Tennessee River in Decatur County, Tennessee. Figure 4 shows a stone engraved monolithic axe pendant (2.4 .. ) found by J.H. Polhemus in 1956-57 on the Late Mississippian (AD 1450-1600) Dallas culture Chilhowee site (408t7) on the Little Tennessee River in Blount County. Tennessee; it was pictured in 1957 (Ref. 14). Figure 5 shows a pendant (2.25 .. ) from Moundville, Hale County, Tennessee and it was pictured in 2016 (Ref. 5).

An even smaller monolithic axe pendant is pictured in Figure 6 which shows a mussel shell pendant (I 1/,”) that was found in Washington County, Virginia.

lncidentaly. in addition to monolithic axe pendants, another miniature monolithic axe effigy arti­fact that has evolved from the early Mississippian large monolithic axe is the monolithic axe pipe. These pipes date to the Late Mississippian Dallas Period (AD 1450-1600) and are made of ceramic material or stone. Figure 7 shows a ceramic pipe (2 w· L) from Bradley County. Tennessee and Figure 8 shows a dolostone pipe (2 ‘”,•” L) from Murray County, Georgia.

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