Hi.  I've found improved earthenware sherds processed as chicken 
gizzard stones under numerous circumstances.  The best was a cluster 
in a turkey carcass buried in the backyard of the Block family house 
in Washington, Arkansas.  I'm convinced we're finding turkey gizzard 
stones at an early Mississippian site, this time as processed 
debitage that looks highly polished and water worn.  My colleagues 
are not so sure, but they're wrong!

At 08:36 AM 4/28/2006, you wrote:
>We have found both gaming disks and chicken stones in various contexts and,
>as Joe says, part of the interpretation depends on the context.  They are
>also distinguishable by size (gaming stones are generally larger -- 1 inch
>or so in diameter), shape (as Anita says, gaming stones are carefully
>rounded) and overall wear patterns (chicken stones look like sherds that
>have been in the water for a long time).  Some of the gaming pieces that we
>have seen seem to have been carefully selected to include particular
>designs, especially on tin-glazed  painted pieces.
>
>
>Meta
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Meta F. Janowitz
>URS Corporation
>437 High Street
>Burlington, N.J. 08016
>609-386-5444
>
> 
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