Five iron hoes and hoe fragments comprise this artifact group. Two complete hoes were associated with Burials 6 and Burial 9. The specimen from Burial 6 is a broad-blade variety with a blade width of 8 inches (20 cm) and blade length of 6.5 inches (16.5 cm). This piece has a cylindrical haft which is heavily reinforced by a strong ridge at the bottom, at which point a prominent tang extends approximately half-way down the inner surface of the blade. The blade has rounded shoulders and a flaring bit. This hoe is identical to the type found at the Tunica site and classified by Brain (1979:144) as Type A, Variety 1. Broad hoes have also been recovered from many of the Overhill Cherokee towns (Carnes 1983:176), where they replaced stone and wooden tools for digging and farming. On period trade lists, broad hoes appear to have a higher value in deerskins than narrower hoes (France 1985).
The second intact iron hoe was recovered from Burial 9 and is a narrow-blade variety. This type of hoe has been described at the Tunica site by Brain (1979:146) as Type C. It was constructed in a similar fashion to the Type A hoe except that the haft was not reinforced and the central tang was not pronounced. The blade is six inches (15 cm) wide and eight inches (20 cm) long. Another hoe of this type was found at Jamestown (Cotter and Hudson 1957:74) and dates to the late seventeenth century.
Three broken hoes were recovered from Feature 13, Feature 18, and Burial 10. The broken hoe from Feature 13 seems to be the broad-blade variety, but the blade is missing. No evidence of retouch or reuse was noted. The Feature 18 specimen is a blade fragment. The broken iron hoe from Burial 10 was found in association with a polished greenstone celt near the skull. The blade end of the hoe shows either damage or reworking. This item probably was selected out of the everyday toolkit for burial accompaniment.
