War club with a ground stone head / Native American; Plains
Essay/Description
War Club, Skull Cracker type -- Associated with the Plains region, this is a war club with a ground stone head. The stone head is ground into a pointed-egg shape. It is securely attached to a wooden handle with rawhide wrapping, and the handle is wrapped with rawhide. A rawhide loop is attached to the butt end of the handle. Three smaller rawhide loops are attached to the larger loop, and one loop of red horse hair is attached.
Many Plains tribes used stone-headed clubs in warfare. These clubs often had a wooden handle, which would attach to the stone head with rawhide thongs. The handles of war clubs were often decorated with beads or quills and hair.