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Bannerstone

Figure 49 Bannerstone, Double-Notched Ovate, 6000-1000 BCE;
artist: Unknown Sculptor;
Banded slate, H. 6 × W. 5 × D. 2 in. (15.2 × 12.7 × 5.1 cm);
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, New York), Ralph T. Coe Collection, Gift of Ralph T. Coe Foundation for the Arts, 2011, 2011.154.14 © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All Rights Reserved.

Object/Work🔺

  • Catalog Level:🔺 item (value type: controlled list)
  • Type:🔺 bannerstone (value type: authority)

Classification🔺

  • Terms:🔺
    tools and implements
    stone-ornaments
    Pre-Columbian art (value type: controlled list)

Titles or Names🔺

  • Text:🔺 Bannerstone, Double-Notched Ovate (value type: free text)
    Preference: preferred (value type: controlled list)
    Type: repository

Creation🔺

  • Creator Description:🔺 unknown Archaic (value type: free text)

  • Identity:🔺 unknown Archaic (value type: authority)
    Role:🔺 carver

  • Creation Date:🔺 6000-1000 BCE (value type: free text)
    Earliest:🔺 -6000 Latest:🔺 -1000 (value type: controlled format)

  • Creation Place/Original Location: Michigan (United States) (value type: free text and/or controlled format)

Style/Period/Group/Movement

  • Indexing Terms: Archaic (value type: authority)

Measurements🔺

  • Dimensions Description:🔺 15.2 x 12.7 x 5.1 cm (6 x 5 x 2 inches) (value type: free text)

  • Value: 15.2 Unit: cm Type: height
    Value: 12.7 Unit: cm Type: width
    Value: 5.1 Unit: cm Type: diameter (value type: controlled format and controlled lists)

Materials and Techniques🔺

  • Description:🔺 banded slate (value type: free text)

  • Material Name: slate
    Technique Name: carving (value type: authority)

Inscriptions/Marks

  • Transcription or Description: “Branch Co. Mich B-41” written in black on one side (value type: free text)

Subject Matter🔺

  • Indexing Terms:🔺
    object (utilitarian)
    lithic
    ceremonial object
    prestige
    hunting
    war (value type: authority)

Context

  • Archaeological Context- Discovery/Excavation Place: south-central Michigan (United States) (value type: authority)

Descriptive Note

  • Text: This bannerstone is a double-notched, ovate-shaped stone that has been oriented by the carver so that its dark grains move diagonally across the curved sculpted composition. Despite the presence of subtle scratch marks throughout the stone’s surface, evidencing the peck and grind techniques used in the carving and polishing processes, the bannerstone shows little to no signs of wear. The stone’s pristine condition, in combination with its unusually large size and weight, indicate that it was likely produced to be used in ritual performances or ceremonies rather than for everday hunting purposes.(value type: free text)

  • Citation: The Met Collection online (value type: authority)
    Page: accessed 17 July 2024 (value type: free text)

Current Location🔺

  • Repository Name/Geographic Location:🔺 The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, New York, United States) (value type: authority)
    Repository Numbers:🔺 2011.154.14 (value type: free text)

NOTE: 🔺 indicates a core CDWA category.

Revised 25 July 2024
by Emily Benoff

Figure 49 Bannerstone, Double-Notched Ovate, 6000-1000 BCE;
artist: Unknown Sculptor;
Banded slate, H. 6 × W. 5 × D. 2 in. (15.2 × 12.7 × 5.1 cm);
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, New York), Ralph T. Coe Collection, Gift of Ralph T. Coe Foundation for the Arts, 2011, 2011.154.14 © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All Rights Reserved.