🏏Chunkey: Entertainment From the Mississippian

I remember walking out on the boardwalk behind the Seminole Tribal and Historic Preservation Office when I came across three guys chiseling rock and sharpening sticks. Normally, apart from Daniel Tommie making canoes at the hunting camp, there are no other demonstrators regularly present, so I seized this opportunity to inquire and introduce myself. Upon asking, they gave me a breakdown of the traditional game of Chunkey, a recreation involving the use of a discoidal stone rolled across the ground while participants competed to throw a lance or spear where they thought the stone would stop rolling.

 

Chunkey Origins

The game of Chunkey originates with the Cahokia culture and with travel and trade spread across North America. It played a valuable role in sociopolitical life as well as daily life. Bets were often made, stakes could range from a doll or beads and even wives or houses. In addition, it served as a way to settle disputes and diplomatic issues.

Playing Benefits

Very often we like to play games at the beginning of our classes as a warm up to the activities ahead, with the added goal of teamwork and bonding, and this year we would like to incorporate this game into our curriculum. However, if you have enough open space and the right materials this game can be fun to play at home! For anyone interested in stone axes and celts, Chunkey stones can be an easy introduction to the pecking and grinding process, as you only need to peck in one general area on both sides to establish concavity, and round it out. Personally, I haven’t played this game much, nor do I know many who have, so I can’t say for sure whether a polished or rough surface allows the stone to travel farther.

What you need to play:

Not much discrimination needs to be used in choosing a stone, though humans seem to have a universal habit of attributing higher value towards objects of higher density and mass. Regular limestone can be easily pecked, as can some marl, and next any long and slender stick or wood can be used as a lance or makeshift spear. One day soon we might incorporate making and using these tools for a class, which sounds like it’ll be a blast! Obviously, the stakes won’t be as high as the players girlfriend or car, but perhaps we can offer some local food or Jaden’s prized gorge hooks!

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References

References

Emetcalf. “Chunkey: More Then Just a Game.” Real Archaeology, 5 Nov. 2023, pages.vassar.edu/realarchaeology/2023/11/05/chunkey-more-then-just-a-game/.
Pauketat, Timothy R. “America’s First Pastime.” America’s First Pastime – Archaeology Magazine Archive, Archaeological Institute of America, Sept. 1999, archive.archaeology.org/0909/abstracts/pastime.html.

 

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