Native American Hopewell Celt
- Material - Hardstone
- Reported Origin - Lasalle, Illinois - Beckworth Farm
- Found - 1900-1910
- Color - Black with green inclusions
- Grade - 10
*This piece includes a Certificate Of Authenticity
* What is a Stone Celt ?
In archaeology, a celt is a long, thin, prehistoric, stone or bronze tool similar to an adze, hoe, or axe.
A shoe-last celt was a polished stone tool used during the early European Neolithic for felling trees and woodworking.
* Hopewell Tradition *
The Hopewell tradition (also called the Hopewell culture) describes the common aspects of Native American culture that flourished in settlements along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern Eastern Woodlands from 100 BCE to 500 CE, in the Middle Woodland period. The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture or society, but a widely dispersed set of populations connected by a common network of trade routes.[1] This is known as the Hopewell exchange system.
At its greatest extent, the Hopewell exchange system ran from the northern shores of Lake Ontario south to the Crystal River Indian Mounds in modern-day Florida. Within this area, societies participated in a high degree of exchange, with the highest amount of activity along waterways, which were the main transportation routes. Peoples within the Hopewell exchange system received materials from all over the territory of what now comprises the United States. Most of the items traded were exotic materials; they were delivered to peoples living in the major trading and manufacturing areas. These people converted the materials into products and exported them through local and regional exchange networks. The objects created by the Hopewell exchange system were traded far and wide; they have been found among grave goods in many burials outside the Midwest.
