 Webb cited "in situ" evidence which consisted mainly of bannerstones found in line with atlatl handles and hooks in graves that archaeologists dug up during the construction of the Tennessee Valley Authority's massive water control system in the southeast during the early part of the 20th century.It seems that "their primary value lay in their symbolic and aesthetic worth rather than in their tool-like efficiency"  because of the manner in which they were created and later found in archaeological sites.The ceremonial importance of bannerstones is related to "the psychological uncertainties and physical dangers of daily life among early hunters and gatherers".