Projectile Points and the Illinois Landscape: People, Time, and Place

Projectile Points and the Illinois Landscape: People, Time, and Place, a 300-page hardback volume printed by the Illinois State Archaeological Survey, includes thousands of full-color photos which show-in glorious detail-artifacts from all over Illinois. More than 80 projectile-point, knife, and cache-blade types are profiled-offering physical descriptions and distinguishing characteristics, distributions, ages, and, whenever possible, cultural affiliations. Using the landscape as a base, each spread in this volume draws together the settings of daily life and the natural resources used by the people who made these artifacts. Short essays on topics as diverse as bison hunting, early horticulture, bone pins, and bird symbolism accompany most of the point-type presentations, providing a richer context to appreciate the diverse lifeways of Illinois' earliest residents. "For collectors of Native American projectile points and students or professionals interested in lithic typology, this volume will prove to be an invaluable resource not only for those in Illinois, but also for those in surrounding states and elsewhere.... The book also emphasizes the importance these artifacts hold in regards to locating and interpreting archaeological sites and the adverse effect which years of unrecorded surface collecting might have in accomplishing meaningful scientific research." -Ray Fraser, Central States Archaeological Societies officer "This volume, a first of its kind for the state, will be a crucial reference guide for projectile point types in Illinois and the surrounding area for decades to come. The book will appeal to both avocational and professional archaeologists.... Although some may view the typological approach as splitter classification, it is exhaustive of point types that have been described for and found in Illinois. -Jack H. Ray, Center for Archaeological Research, Missouri State University