Sandstone was also ground and polished into a discoidal shape for use in the game of chunkey. Nodena points are an exquisitely made willow leaf-shaped flint blades named for the Nodena site that are diagnostic of the Late Mississippian and Protohistoric periods over a large section of the American Midwest and South. Examples have been found in Dallas phase sites in Tennessee, Oneota sites in Iowa and Wisconsin, Caborn-Welborn culture sites in Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, protohistoric Quapaw sites in Arkansas, as well as sites in Alabama, and Florida. Two different types of Nodena points were made, the Nodena Elliptical and the Nodena Banks varieties. The Banks variety has a straight base, as opposed to the bi-point shape of the Nodena Elliptical. The Banks variety is named for the Banks site, near Wapanocca Lake (see illustration for distribution and diagram of types). Agriculture and food The people of Nodena were intensely involved in maize agriculture, as well as other food crops originating in the Americas, such as beans, squash, sunflowers and gourds. They also gathered wild foodstuffs such as pecans and persimmons. The de Soto chroniclers described the area as being under heavy cultivation, and the most populous they had seen in La Florida. The Spaniards described groves of wild fruit and nut bearing trees, implying that the Nodena must have left them standing when clearing other trees for the cultivation of maize. The hunting of whitetail deer, squirrel, rabbit, turkey, and mallard was practiced as well as fishing for alligator gar, catfish, drum, and mussels. Head deformation The people of the Nodena phase practiced artificial cranial deformation or head flattening. Shortly after infants were born, they were strapped to a special carrier which deformed their skulls as they grew. Many of the skeletal remains found at the Nodena site had deformed skulls, of the type defined as fronto-occipital deformation, flattening of the forehead and the back of the head. Of 123 skulls found by Dr. Hampson, only six could be considered "normal", meaning they did not show the signs of head deformation. The functioning of the brain is not affected by cranial deformation, but the overall shape of the skull bones is. This practice was performed by many Native American tribes into historic times, including the Choctaw, although it later fell out of favor. Burial customs Family cemeteries with burials occurring in groups of 15 to 20 or more