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Take an ungrooved celt, polish it, stretch it (up to
two feet long), flare the bit slightly and what have you got? A long-stemmed spud! For many years archaeologists
for reasons of clarity have wished that the spud might be renamed "elongated celts" or "sociotechnic
axe form," but the common name of "spud" persists, named for a type of spade used to dig potatoes. Early
archaeologists thought the spud was some type of digging tool. Clarence B. Moore (Moore 1903) was one of the first
to describe it as an unusual form of celt, not an implement meant for digging. Very few long-stemmed spuds have
chips or show any evidence of wear on their bits which would indicate use in digging or chopping.
Archaeologists now recognize that spuds are ritual axes
used in Mississippian society as political or religious symbols during ritual ceremonies. James B: Griffin, writing
about spuds found at Spiro (Griffin 1952), stated, "Polished, long handled stone spuds are commonly found
in sites where other artifacts indicate a connection to the Middle Mississippian Southern Cult. The spud has never
been found as a part of any Hopewell culture at any site. It is a clear time marker for the post-Hopewell Mississippi
levels." Since that time the spud has been recognized by several writers as one of the symbols used in the
Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. James A. Brown, in his most recent study of Spiro (Brown 1996), says, "Although
sociotechnic weapons are too delicate or too cumbersome for use they are neither 'useless' or merely 'decorative.'
We can attribute to them great importance as social and moral symbols due to their capacity to evoke the power
to make them possible." J.V. Knight calls them "sacra," suggesting artifacts that are charged
with supernatural meaning in the context of ritual activity or display (Knight 1986: Emerson 1996).
Spuds have been found in at least ten states. They are
usually associated with Mississippian burials dating before about 1350AD. The majority of them are made from greenstone,
a material found mainly in the Tennessee-Cumberland river drainage areas. Perino and others have stated that these
implements were most likely manufactured there and traded to other locations (Perino 1964). They have been found
in Florida, as far west as Spiro, and as far north as the American Bottoms that surround Cahokia.
How were spuds used in ceremonies? There is ample evidence
that they were hafted, much as common axes, but with more elaborate handles. Spuds found at Spiro and by Moore
in Arkansas, as well as two examples discussed following, all show stains on their polls that indicate they once
had handles. A portion of an engraved conch shell found at Spiro (Phillips and Born 1980: Plate 204A) shows a hafted
spud in the belt of a dancing bird man. This spud is hafted in a handle similar to the woodpecker handles found
on copper celts at Spiro. These elaborate handles had the poll
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Left:
Sutter Spud from Madison County, Illinois, it is 12 1/4 inches long. Right: the Thibault Spud from Pulaski County,
Arkansas, is 13 5/8 inches long. Toney Aid collection. end
of the celt entering the back of the head of a woodpecker and coming out of the mouth, like a tongue between the
open beak of the bird. A spud that size in an elaborate carved wooden handle would have been very impressive.
A Tale of Two Spuds John Sutter( 1856-1941) was an early collector of artifacts from the American Bottoms area across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. He lived in Edwardsville, Illinois, where he was the editor of the local newspaper and later a real-estate and insurance salesman. Sutter collected a large assortment of artifacts from the American Bottoms. According to his daughter-in-law, he "acquired most of his collection from the Thomas T. Ramey family." The Ramey family owned the land Monks Mound stands on at Cahokia from 1868 through July of 1925. Emerson, in an article
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© 1990 C.S.A.S.I. Last modified:
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