Wadlow

NAME: Gregory Perino named this type for seventy-five examples recovered by Walter Wadlow from burial sites at the Etley site in Calhoun County, Illinois.

AGE: Perino suggested a Late Archaic association for this type with a date of around 1000 B.C.Along with the Wadlow points, twelve Etley points were recovered that are believed to date between 2000 and 500 B.C. (Scully 1951).Scully noted that these two point types were often found in the same context.The Wadlow blade outnumbers Etley points in burial caches 6 to 1 while Etley points are more common at site surfaces.Perino also noted that 25 three-quarter and full groove axes and 3 copper axes were recovered from the Etley burial mounds.

DESCRIPTION: The Wadlow is a large unnotched blade that typically has a straight base, straight blade edges and an acute distal end.The blade may also have a recurved or convex edges and the basal edge may be straight, concave or convex. The cross-section is lenticular. Basal corners may also be somewhat rounded.Because the blade is formed with percussion flaking with little secondary flaking, Bell suggested that they might be a perform blank for the Etley point.The basal edge is finished with short, broad flaking.

DISTRIBUTION: Wadlow blades are most often found in bluff top sites along the banks of the Missouri, Mississippi and Illinois rives in are nearly always in cashes.While most of these blades served as blanks, many were used as knives as indicated by heavy use-ware along the edges.