by Korhan B. Raif MD, Barry, Illinois
Volume 72, Number 4, October 2025, Central States Archaeological Journal
I was recently reading the April 2025 of CSAJ and saw a stunning puddingstone discoidal on the back of the cover page and it struck me how often collectors like to describe discoidals by stone type rather than typology and cultural affiliation. A lot has also been written about discoidals in the context of the game of Chunkee as played by the Native Americans; it’s much harder to find information about discoidals in the archaeology context and their typology.
The history of Chunkee begins in the area adjacent to Cahokia and spreads to the surrounding geographic areas and with time, into the historic era as documented by the early Spanish during the initial contact period. Many have been pictured and displayed in various journals and books since collectors love the aesthetic, overall beauty and rarity of the chunkee stone.
This article focuses primarily on the typology and timeline of the discoidal and is based on Gregory Perino’s classification in 1971 as described in the Illinois Archeology Survey Bulletin No. 8. (Ref.1)
In my close to 30 years of walking campsites, I have only found one. I know many local collectors that have found many rare and wonderful things but never had the thrill of finding a discoidal. To hold a well-made discoidal is to hold a piece of Native American art and history. At its essence is a chunk of stone pecked, shaped, ground and polished into a universally appreciated piece of art. The quality of work, selection of fine stone and its depiction on Mississippian art suggests that the Native American also appreciated it as much as a work of art as we do today.
This article will discuss the typology and timeline of the discoidal or chunkee stone in west central Illinois, specifically Pike and Calhoun counties. This area is sandwiched between the lower Illinois valley and the Mississipi Bottom flood plain, west of the Jersey Bluffs and Green County, with Missouri to the west and extending down south to the vicinity around Cahokia, Illinois. The area is considered to be the birthplace and epicenter for the discoidal. Although there are other types of discoidals, it is thought they all initially developed around Cahokia and then later were traded from the Cahokia area, subsequently developing their unique style locally—such as the Tennessee and Georgia style discoidals.
Gregory Perino classified the discoidal in four types as illustrated in Figure 1. The four types are listed ranging from the Late Woodland period to the Late Mississippian period extending into the historic period.
Figure 1. Cross section drawings of discoidal types.
(a) Salt River variety
(b) Jersey Bluff variety
(c) Cahokia variety
(d) Bradley variety
(after Perino 1971 Figure 74).
The Jersey Bluff variant centers in the lower Mississippi Valley and spreads north and west into the Mississippi Valley and south around the St. Louis area. This variant is the earliest type and dates from the Late Woodland period Jersey Bluff culture. They are biconcave with a shallow cup and broadly rounded to narrow flat rim, and with slightly convex outer edges. The width to thickness ratio ranges from 2:1 to 8:1. Compared to other discoidals, this type shows a lot of variability and some can be quite large and heavy. Illustrated in Figure 1 are three locally found Jersey Bluff style discoidals from Pike County, Illinois. The larger (4 ½” x 2”) one is made of yellow/honey colored quartzite and was found just south of Pleasant Hill in Calhoun County on the bluff overlooking the Mississippi floodplain. The one in the middle (2 ½” 1 ¼”) is a personal find from Barry, Pike County, which is on high ground between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and the site is on a large elevated area overlooking Hadley Creek. The smallest one (2” x 1”) was found in Hull, Pike County in the Mississippi bottom. It is made of dark hard stone and has a cross etched in both cups. Perino states many found in the Lower Illinois Valley have this crossed design in their cups. Although Perino states the significance of the cross is not known, subsequent literature suggests that the cross represents the four cardinal points (horizontal view) but in the vertical view, the Native understanding of the Native American cosmos: the horizontal line depicting the Middle (living) World and the vertical line dividing the Upper (sky) and Lower (under) World, with the circle of the discoidal representing the universe (Ref. 2).
Figure 2. Jersey Bluff discoidals.
The Salt River discoidal is easily recognized by its V-shaped outer edge and considered rare as it is more limited in its geographic distribution. This type is also Late Woodland and contiguous to the Jersey Bluff territory to the west and north. Most are found in the Lower Salt River in Missouri, northwest of the major Jersey Bluff sites.(1) The Salt River discoidal illustrated (3 ¼” x 1 ½”) was found in New Canton, Pike County. The town sits below the bluff and is directly in the Mississippi floodplain. It is made from a dense black hard stone with a nice polish and was found on a sand ridge overlooking the Mississippi floodplain.
Figure 3. Salt River discoidal.
A large percent of Late Woodland period discoidals are made of diorite and granite hardstone; but quartz, limestone, baked clay and flint discoidals are also found. All the ones in my collection are made of hard stone and quartz, although I have seen locally found Jersey Bluff discoidals made out of limestone and a beautiful one made of translucent glasslike ferruginous quartz similar to some bannerstones.
Figure 4. Cahokia discoidals.
The Cahokia type Mississippian discoidal is found around the Cahokia area and extending up the Mississippi Valley into other areas that Cahokia communities migrated to and cohabitated with other Late Woodland cultures. The Cahokia discoidal has a width to thickness ratio between 2:1 to 4:1. These are usually relatively thin through the cups and have sharp to slightly rounded rim edges. Sometimes the cup is so thin, there is a perforation in the middle of the cup. They have flat to convex outer edges and broad deep cups. Cahokia discoidals are usually made of quartzite, sugar quartz, diorite, granite, limestone, compact sandstone, and baked clay. I have seen a locally found one that is approximately 2½” in diameter and made of compact sandstone. It has a Mississippian weeping eye motif in both cups. The larger of the illustrated Cahokia (Fig. 4) discoidals (3¾” x 1½”) is made of a light colored hard stone with a very sharp rim and deep broad cup. It was found in the Mississippi Bottom, in Hull, Pike County. The smaller one (2¼” x ¾”) is made of granite and was found in the Mississippi Bottom on a sand ridge in New Canton, Pike County.
Figure 5. Bradley discoidal.
The Bradley type discoidal developed later in the Mississippian period and eventually replaced the Cahokia style chunkee. This is a bi-convex type and named after the Bradley site in Arkansas, and it is typically called the “biscuit discoidal” by collectors. Some of the Bradley types have edges beveled to one side so they would curve when thrown. This type of Bradley was used until the early Historic period. The Bradley style pictured was found in Pleasant Hill, Mississippi Bottoms, in Pike County. It is made of granite and measures 3½” x 2¼”. It is very well made, the thickness to width ratio is higher than the other types so it has a much thicker look especially compared to the earlier Cahokia style. It has slightly rounded edges and although it is bi-convex, one side is slightly more pronounced giving the impression it has a top and bottom.
I am happy to share these discoidals from West-Central Illinois region and hope the next time you view a discoidal, you appreciate not only the beauty but also the cultural affiliation, typology, history and cultural significance to Native Americans.
References:
1 – Mississippian Site Archeology in Illinois:1, Illinois Archeology Survey Inc. Bulletin No 8, University of Illinois Urbana. 1971.
2 – Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand. The Art institute of Chicago publication. Yale university press. 2004.
3 – For Figure 1: Discoidal typology by Gregory Perino. Additional suggested reading and references.
4 – The Styles and Distributions of Chunkey Stones in the Eastern Woodlands. Aidan Paul, honors thesis, Curriculum in Archeology, UNC at Chapel Hill 2021.
5 – Chunkey and the Historic experience in the Mississippian World. Thomas J. Zych. University of Toledo 2017. (Both articles are very informative and available online at ResearchGate.)
The author would like to thank Addie Rodhouse for the photography.
