Expert: John Shea - 7/20/2003

Question
My uncle found a carved face on a stone that is about one inch. He found this stone somewhere in Kansas when he was a teenager in the 1920's. My aunt gave me the tast of finding out what it is. PBS on the show History Detectves did a segment about a woman who found one on the beach in Monoloking, N.J. The ones they showed on the PBS site and the ads on t.v. sure does look a lot like the on I have but I was unable to see the show and the person who was to record it did not. I have e-mailed several people but I haven't heard from any one. So I am hoping you can help.Thank you for your time and any help you can offer.  Julie Spencer  01/20/03

Answer
Dear Julie
I'm not going to be able to answer your question myself, but rather than just checking off the "not my area of expertise" reply option, I do want to point you in the direction of someone who can answer your question.  I am not an expert on the archaeology of North America.  My guess is that if this figurine from Kansas closely resembles one from New Jersey, then it is probably something Europeans brought with them as they migrated west.  Native American cultures from the Plains and the Northeast tend to have very different traditional art styles.
The sort of person who could help you with the identification of this artifact would be either your state archaeologist or a professor of anthropology who specializes in North American archaeology.  There is probably such a professor in any major university near you.  Look their address up on the internet (About.com's anthropology and archaeology pages list major anthropology programs all over the country.)  Call ahead and ask for an appointment.  Most professors will be glad to help you out, so don't be discouraged if your first attempt to contact someone doesn't work out. Many archaeologists are off on their excavations around now.  If you are communicating by email, you might consider taking a digital photo (or scanning a snapshot) of the object and sending it along for people to examine.
Best wishes,
John Shea