Bone Pins
The Green River Archaic people made bone pins from the long bones of white-tailed deer. They split the bones lengthwise into thin pieces and ground down each piece until it was smooth.
A bone’s natural contours guided the pin makers in shaping the pin’s final form. The makers did not commonly carve pin tops into different shapes. Instead, like the example shown second from the right, they might attach pieces of shell to the pin top with "asphaltum" (a natural, asphalt-like substance found at oil seeps).
Bone pins may have held a person’s hair in place. Some have drilled holes and may have been strung on a cord and worn as pendants around the neck. Other pins could have fastened clothing together, like a button or a safety pin.