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| These unusual stone artifacts were grave offerrings that show connections with distant source areas and with broad cultural patterns. From left to right, a drilled and polished black pendant, a drilled bannerstone, a grooved stone artifact , and a drilled piece of tabular sandstone. These artifacts are not ordinary everyday items; they were special artifacts that probably symbolized power and esotertic knowledge. The drilled pieces were probably worn as chest ornaments. These artifacts and the grooved stone are rare and most often found as grave offerings. Similar artifacts were found in the Early Archaic cemetery at the Buckeye Knoll site, a recently excavated site about 5 miles downstream from Morhiss Mound. The bannerstone, pendants, and the grooved stone artifact suggest that Morhiss inhabitants participated in a social network with far-reaching extra-regional contacts to the northeast and east within the Eastern Woodlands. |