Also located in
Jaketown was evidence of the beginnings of the lapidary industry. The development of the lapidary industry is
one of the most important aspects of the Poverty Point culture. The first discoveries of this industry in
Jaketown were two drilled stone beads although the most common item found were
tubular beads made of varying materials.
Disc beads were also found but were much loess abundant. Some pendants were also found one in the
shape of a bird and several in the shape of claws. But one item of the lapidary industry really stands out for the
Jaketown site. This artifact was a jasper
tablet with a human face carved into it.
In addition to the face tablet there was a tablet containing the body,
which was found in 1962. The face
portion of the tablet was not found until much later in 1979. Another item indicative of the Poverty Point
culture at Jaketown is a rectangular tablet with narrow ends also made of jasper. Jaketown differed from many other sites that
had a lapidary industry because none of the artifacts in Jaketown were made out
of the green, maroon, or gray slate that was typical of other nearby Poverty
Point sites. However, quartz crystal
items are in far more abundance at Jaketown than at the Poverty Point
site.
The final type of artifacts found at the Jaketown
site are objects made of fired clay.
Most of the Poverty Point type objects found here were hand-modeled clay
that were probably used in the cooking process. Although other uses have been proposed such as weights for nets
or slingshot missiles. These clay
objects are far less abundant than any of the stone objects and this could be
due to the fact that over the years the clay has been broken into fragments and
have not held up as well as the tougher stone objects. Also found at Jaketown were many fragments
of a clay tubular pipe and a very small amount of ceramic fragments. Pottery made from fired clay was also found
at several of the mounds at Jaketown.