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Very large ceremonial or mortuary blades were made during both the Middle Woodland and Middle Mississippian period. They were made for ceremonial purposes and not for utilitarian use. They were either used in ceremony or buried with the dead or both. These types have been separated here to more accurately describe them.
The blades recovered in the southeastern United States, and especially in Florida, correspond to the Morse Knife form, named by Gregory Perino from examples first found at the Morse site in Fulton County, Illinois. The examples recovered and illustrated by Perino have a wide blade that narrows considerably at the hafting area, unlike the examples from the Southeast that have a gradual narrowing from the widest point of the blade to the basal edge. Perino suggested a Late Archaic to Early Woodland period context for Morse blades. Blades from Florida also seem to date to this period, having been recovered with Deptford pottery from the Middle Woodland period. Morse Knifes typically measure between 6 and 14 inches in length as do examples from Florida. Unlike the Morse Knife, Florida examples are often abraded across the face of the blade in the hafting area, removing the sharp edges of the flake scars in that area. The Florida examples do not conform to the general outline of the Morse Knife as mentioned, but display a resemblance to the Ramey Knife form as well as other variations.
This example was recovered along the side of a dirt road near Steam Boat Springs, Florida by a local restaurant worker.
This example was recovered by Mr. Don Serbousek near Blue Springs, Florida.
This is the largest example known to exist at 14.5 inches long and 4.5 inches wide. It was shown to me by a private collector at the Etowah Mounds Artifact ID day in 2008.
this is a generic name used to describe a series of blades that appeared in a predominantly Woodland cultural Association in Florida. The lithic daggers were first reported in Florida by Donald W. Sharon from Choctawhatchee Bay. Most of the examples recovered were intended for mortuary purposes, however, some with use where may have been utilitarian. Their size and mortuary Association may indicate a Hopewellian influence. Of the known examples of the Florida lithic dagger, their distribution ranges from northwestern Florida to central and southeastern Florida.
Blades intended for mortuary use are normally much larger than utilitarian blades, ranging from five to over 14.5 inches in length. The flake scars of each face are often smoothed through abrading. Examples recovered from burials with no evidence of use where seem to have been intended for mortuary purposes only. Daggers can be grouped into at least three diagnostic types.
Type one daggers display blades with convex edges and broad distal ends. They are widest in the distal quarter of the blade. The blade tapers from that point to its basil end. Flaking is random with pressure flaking along each edge. Lateral and basal smoothing occurs along the lower half of the blade in what seems to be the hafting area. The basil end tapers to a rounded and in some cases, a concave and.
Type II daggers have blades with straight or slightly convex edges which may be serrated. The blade is randomly flaked and exhibits a “hip” at the top of the hafting area about one third of the way up from the basal edge. The hafting area displays lateral and basal smoothing. The sides of the hafting area are straight to slightly tapering and the basal edge is flat.
Type III daggers are typically very large measuring from 6 to 10 inches in length and from 2 to 3 inches in width the blade displays broad percussion flaking which has been bi-facially smoothed by abrasion. Fine pressure flaking is used to finish the slightly excavate blade edges. Typically, and no use-ware is present. The blade is widest at the shoulders that taper to a rounded or pointed basil end.
Robert J. Austen noted that extremely large and expertly made blades were common mortuary implements during the middle Woodland.. They were frequently made of materials exotic to the location of recovery. Many examples are broken with a radial fracture, frequently resulting from an intentional blow to the center of the blade, again suggesting their use in mortuary ceremony. The example illustrated at the top of this page was recovered by Mr. Don Serbousek from a mound site near blue Springs in Volusia County it was recovered in association with six Citrus blades and shards of St. John’s Plain and check stamp ceramics. Other type I examples have been recovered at Pinellas Point in St. Petersburg, Oak Knoll mound in Lee County, at the Stafford mound near Tarpon Springs and at a Swift Creek mound in Calhoun County near Hair Hamack. A six-inch example of a subtype one blade from the Silver Lake site in Citrus County was recovered in association with Safety Harbor ceramics, which date between 1400 and 1700 A. D. This example was not in a mortuary association and may have been utilitarian.
One example of a type II dagger was recovered from Choctawhatchee Bay by Donald W. Sharon. The site also contained Weeden island II artifacts. Given its location and recovery, this example may have been utilitarian. Two examples of this type were also recovered at the charnel pond at Fort Center, one with a radial fracture, perhaps indicating mortuary use. The site dated between 305 and 3048. D. One similar but serrated example in the collection of Mr. Allan Hyde was recovered from the Santa Fe River.
One rather large example measuring 10 1/2 inches long was recovered by Mr. Paul Lynn from the Withlacoochee River in Florida. The Royce mound in Highlands County, which dates to between a. D. One and 350, contained at least two variant examples of the type III dagger. These blades were recovered in association with St. John’s Plain and Golf Check ceramics.
Name: James A. Brown (1976) named this type for the Duck River cache found in Humphreys County, Tennessee in 1894.In the cache that consisted of 46 ceremonial pieces, the largest sword was 1 ¾ inches wide and 28 inches long.The larger blades are believed to have been used as ceremonial dance swords held by winged eagle dancers.The shorter blades were believed to have been used as knives.The blades are most often made from Dover or Ft. Payne chert that is found along the Duck River.A few were made of slate or wood.The type is similar to the contemporary Ramey knives found in the Cahokia area of Missouri and Illinois.
Description: This is a long, narrow, willow-leaf shaped blade.It may be widest near the distal end and taper to a narrow rounded or pointed base.The distal end is acuminate.The blade is developed with broad percussion flaking that is somewhat collateral, yet without a median ridge, and the blade edges are finished with fine pressure flaking to create even edges.
Age: These swords belong to the Middle Mississippian period ceremonial centers that existed at Duck River and at Etowah between 1200 and 1300 A.D.The illustrated blades were recovered at the Etowah Indian Mound site.
Distribution: These swords are most often found in the box graves of ceremonial centers in Tennessee and Etowah, but were also believed to be traded to the Caddo people of Arkansas and eastern Texas as many examples have been recovered from the Spiro Mounds in Oklahoma.
Name: This point was named by James A. Brown (1976) for the Gahagan Mounds, Red River Parish, Louisiana, where many examples were found.
Description: This is a large, lanceolate knife form, usually thin, with straight, convex or recurved sides and a straight basal edge. The base is often wider than the blade. The knife ranges from three to nine inches long. Because of its resemblance to the Copena point, it was originally referred to as Copena in the literature. Many examples are made of brown chert thought to be derived from sources on the Edwards Plateau of central Texas. A recent discovery of similar chert in nodular form from the Sulphur River south of Paris, Texas indicates a more local origin.
Age: Early Caddoan, dating from A.D. 900 to 1200. Some may be earlier, coming from the end of the Coles Creek culture dating from A.D. 750. Copena is of Middle Woodland age and therefore earlier. A similar local Texas point, the Kinney, is thought to be of Late Archaic origin making it earlier than either Gahagan or Copena.
Distribution: Examples have been recovered from the Spiro Mounds site in Oklahoma, southwestern Arkansas, northwestern Louisiana and northeastern Texas. These areas are part of the Caddoan Mississippian cultural area.
The Dr. Rozier collection
These examples were recovered in Osceola County, Florida (photo courtesy of Paleo Enterprises)
Bruce Butts Collection
Gregory Perino (1963) named this artifact for the Ramey site at the Cahokia Mounds in Illinois. The Ramey Knife is a large lanceolate point. It is widest near the center and upper one third of the length, tapering with convex edges to an unfinished or rounded basal end. A frequently used specimen may have a pointed basil end. The average length ranges between 6 and 9 inches, although some have been reported as small as 3 inches and as long as 18.5 inches. The longer specimens belongs to a class of dance swords similar to the Duck River Sword in Tennessee. A Ramey Knife is most often made of Milk Creek chert; a few were made of Kaolin chert and of native white chert, which is known as Burlington chert in the Cahokia Mounds area.
These blades were made by Mississippian people about A.D. 900 to 1300.
The center of distribution is the Cahokia site but the Ramey Knife is also found wherever Cahokia-related sites occur, primarily in Missouri, Wisconsin and various parts of Illinois. They have been found in the Southeast in Georgia and Florida.
