During the month of June, a field crew from the American Bottom Field Station (ABFS) of ISAS carried out pedestrian surveys in southern Illinois for a proposed interstate reconstruction project. One of the site areas investigated contained numerous Mississippian artifacts including hoe fragments and shell-tempered pottery. One of the more interesting artifacts found during this work was a large carved limestone disc. Unfortunately, the disc was well worn making it difficult to discern whether or not it was further decorated. Such items are frequently found on Mississippian sites in the American Bottoms, however, their function is rather ambiguous. They are often conflated with gaming stones but could have served some other unknown purpose.
