Discoidal (Chunkey Stone)

A discoidal is a round stone disk, usually 60–150 mm across, with faces that range from convex through flat to deeply concave (cupped). Some have a second small cup inside the main one, a central hole, or a bevelled rim, and a few are barrel-shaped, about as thick as they are wide (Hodge 1907; Paul 2021). Perino (1971) defined Jersey Bluff, Salt River, Cahokia and Bradley types in Illinois, and Paul (2021) adds Feurt, Davidson, Tuckasegee and Barrel styles.

They were made of hard, tough stone, mostly quartz, quartzite, granite, diorite and other igneous rock, as well as compact sandstone and limestone. A rounded blank was pecked to shape with a hammerstone, then ground and polished (Illinois State Museum; Thruston 1897).

Many were game stones for chunkey, a game recorded by eighteenth-century observers among the Choctaw, Natchez, Cherokee, Muskogee and others: the stone was rolled across a prepared yard and players slid poles after it, scoring by where the pole came to rest against the stone (Hodge 1907; Paul 2021). Adair wrote that the stones were kept as town property for generations (Thruston 1897). Small, rough or lopsided disks probably served other purposes, such as grinding or spinning (Paul 2021). The key trait is a symmetrical, carefully polished stone disk with matched concave or convex faces.

Diameter mostly 60–90 mm (Cahokia and Bradley styles) and up to 130–150 mm (Davidson style); thickness 20–60 mm (Paul 2021). Across all discoidals Hodge (1907) gives 25–200 mm diameter (1–8 in). Paul treats disks under about 50 mm as small discoidals rather than chunkey stones.

Southeast and Midwest, from Wisconsin and Illinois to Oklahoma, Louisiana, Georgia and North Carolina; Cahokia-style stones spread across this whole area from the American Bottom near St. Louis (Paul 2021). Regional styles cluster in Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania (Feurt), Tennessee (Davidson) and North Carolina (Tuckasegee).

Chunkey stones are symmetrical, about 50 mm or more across, and have cups or holes; small plain disks may be spindle whorls or other gaming pieces (Paul 2021; Thruston 1897). Rough disks grade into manos, pitted stones, hammerstones and sinkers, so no sharp line can be drawn (Hodge 1907). Under the type-variety names, Jersey Bluff and Salt River are Late Woodland to Emergent Mississippian, Cahokia is Classic Mississippian, and Bradley comes later, lasting into the contact period (DeBoer 1993 and Perino 1971, summarized in Paul 2021). "Chunkey" is a traders' name; Lawson recorded "chenco" in 1701 (Hodge 1907), and Moorehead (1910) used Snyder's term "bicave" for cupped forms. During the Classic Mississippian most come from high-status burials; before and after, most come from village middens (Paul 2021).