Graham Cave points found from early archaic period

Just a hill or two north of I-70 in Montgomery County rises a dolomite and sandstone outcropping that became known as Graham Cave. Early native people used the cave for shelter, and as their hunter-gatherer lifestyle drove them on, they left behind tools of their time.

Archaeologists in the early 1950s discovered pottery, bone needles and stone tools associated with a culture dating to 10,000 years ago, give or take a few hundred years. One of the artifacts they uncovered was a side-notched point that in 1951 became known as the “Graham Cave”-style point, and finding even a piece of one today can be exciting.

Last year I was in a Cape Girardeau County farm field looking for arrowheads, and as I made it to the break of the recently disked hill, not 10 minutes into my trip, I found the bottom 2 and 3/4 inches (the base) of a Graham Cave point.

Possibly made of Burlington chert, the tan-colored, side-notched artifact was on a hill less than a mile from the Mississippi River. Eight thousand to 10,000 years ago, before river channelization, backwater would have been on the opposite hillside giving convenient access to water. The point has prominent serrations and would have been a wonderful knife, a necessary cutting tool.

This year’s artifact searches turned up another partial Graham Cave with a 2-inch base remaing. This multi-colored gray, side-notched piece was on the northeast slope of a hill that borders a creek, a hill approximately two miles north of last year’s find.

Naturally, finding an ancient manmade artifact (even a broken one) still brings a butterfly feeling to my chest. The questions always come to mind: what did the Middle to Early Archaic people use this tool for? Who was the person who made it? Why was it left behind? What happened to the family unit that owned the knife? Where did they go next?

Finding a portion of or a whole artifact is always exciting, as it places another time, another culture, another family trying to survive, on this spot, and right in my hand. When a new artifact surfaces it’s as if two eras come together in one single moment. The moment is fleeting, but moments like that will cause my return for future searches.

Each piece I’ve found — in part or whole — all have a story: the Kampsvilles, the Dovetails, the Daltons, the Apple Creeks, the Table Rocks. And now the Graham Caves. What’s next? Maybe one day a Clovis. (Right!)

To comment on this story or submit an idea for a future column, email Steven Bender at sbender1878@gmail.com.