Stone Pendant

A stone pendant is a flat, ground and polished stone ornament with a single hole near one end for hanging. Outlines include celt-shaped, rectangular, trapezoidal, pentagonal, oval and circular forms, and the end with the hole is usually narrower or shaped differently from the other (Peabody and Moorehead 1906; Ellis 2002; Bell 1980).

Most are slate or shale, but turquoise, microcline, phosphate nodules and various igneous rocks were also used (Bell 1980). The piece was ground and polished, then drilled, usually from both faces. Some were made from broken gorgets: the break was ground smooth and a new hole drilled, which can usually be seen on close inspection; others are natural flat nodules simply perforated (Bell 1980). Edges may carry small notches and faces occasional light engraving.

Pendants were ornaments. Bell (1980) suggests small ones hung from the ears and larger ones from the neck, alone or on a necklace, and oval slate pendants accompany Adena cremations in Kentucky (Henderson and Schlarb 2007). The key trait is a flat polished stone with one hole drilled near one end.

From small ear pendants to neck pieces about the size of a gorget. In the Northeast, earlier pendants have the hole within 40 mm of the end; Kipp Island examples have it 60–65 mm from the narrow end (Ellis 2002). No measured series was found.

Widespread across eastern North America and the Plains. In Oklahoma they are uncommon but occur in almost every part of the state (Bell 1980); they are a standard find in the Northeast, Ontario and the Ohio Valley (Ellis 2002; Henderson and Schlarb 2007).

One hole near one end makes a pendant; two or more holes spaced across the face make a gorget (Ellis 2002). Peabody and Moorehead (1906) found that about two-thirds to three-quarters of single-hole "gorgets" in museum collections were really pendants. A pendant cut down from a broken gorget keeps the old finish and may show part of an earlier hole (Bell 1980). Kipp Island trapezoidal and pentagonal pendants sometimes have deeply notched tops (Ellis 2002). Small turquoise and microcline pendants in western Oklahoma are trade pieces from the Southwest (Bell 1980).