Recently my professor for my anthropology course conducted a flint knapping demonstration. Providing an interactive opportunity for us students. (Immensely interesting for me, I could barely stand still.)
I stayed after class and sparked up a conversation about the hobby, eventually he ended up gifting me a large piece of opaque obsidian/dacite. This is the piece I made from the main nodule. I plan on gifting it back to him soon.
Had a nice chunk of Flattop Chalcedony leftover as a gift from a friend. So I sent it over to Tony Soares to make me a pair of Eden’s in return. I knew he’d be able to do it more justice than me. The other nicer Eden was sent to my friend who originally gave me the nodule.
Made from a self collected river cobble I picked up near Ft. Morgan Colorado on the Platte. Knapped incredibly well for an orthoquartzite.
One of my friends who lives in Northeastern Colorado recently gave me some pieces of Flattop chalcedony. A White River Group silicate, that was a highly prolific toolstone on the plains in the surrounding regions of the quarry in Logan County, Colorado. It is rather challenging to acquire workable chunks of this lithic. So I took my time on this replica. Satisfied with how it turned out. Decently accurate flake patterns.
All Ex. Shea Saxton
Recovered in Oregon.
(Pics 2-7) 1 2/16’s in L x 10/16 in W. Completely opaque obsidian. With a strong plano-convex cross section. Typology matches closely with a Columbia Plateau.
(Pics 8-11) 3/4’s in L x 7/16’s in W. Multi-colored agate of some form. Evidently made off a flake, as much of the original surface still remains. Maybe a Rose Springs.
(Pics 12-15) 7/8’s in L x 7/16’s. Creamy white chalcedony. Typology is not obviously evident to me. Maybe someone more experienced with the region will chime in.
(Pics 16-19) 3/4 in L x 7/16’s in W Diminutive agate Gunther with a minute amount of dendrites. Found in Klamath Co. Oregon.
This group of four small true arrowheads showcase some superb workmanship, refined knapping and high quality lithics. Hope everyone has been enjoying these recent posts from the PNW. I will briefly continue to share some more out of that region.
Stay safe & hydrated in this heat my friends.
Ex. Shea Saxton
Both recovered in Washington.
The basalt projectile point measured 1 1/2 in L x 11/16’s W. Unsure as to typology.
The carnelian/jasper Rabbit Island measures 1 1/16’s L x 11/16’s W
Ex. Shea Saxton
Collected by Paul Wiedemann, 1957-1975 near the Columbia River, Washington/Oregon.
Ex. Tank Mills
Recovered in Kansas.
Common point type, but i’ve always been fond of Winterset chert. Nice mottled blue/gray coloration. Nothing to write home about. But still worth a post.
Going to be posting a lot of lower quality pieces for posterity. Realized that I lost the provenance for a few artifacts and need to be better about my cataloging endeavors. Ashamed of myself to be quite frank. Won’t have the usual detailed descriptions. So cut me a little slack.
The small Onondaga Hopewell was recovered near Munnsville New York. Ex. Keith Cicero collection.
While the Duncan variant Lamoka was recovered in New Jersey. Unusually well knapped for such rough lithic.
6 15/16’s L x 1 1/2 W
Haven’t seen many nice hardstone relics posted here recently. Thought i’d dig out one of my favorite celts to showcase. Provenance unknown. Acquired from an old Southwestern collection with a couple Oklahoma pieces. But it seems similar to celts i’ve seen from further Southeast. Gorgeous multi-colored red & yellow hematite. Quite large for a hematite celt. Shows slight ancient use wear on the bit.
Bit awkward to photograph since it‘s so large. So forgive my pics.
Found in Eagle County, Colorado by my mother. We were on a friend’s property for a hunting trip, but no luck with any game. So we decided to go looking for artifacts.
She found this in an incredibly steep location heading up to a single-component Late Archaic site. I believe that u/TimHyde74 still has the uni-face flake blade I found that day.
I’ve had people tell me it was a Mallory, or a Billings. Or that the material might be Hartville Uplift. So I don’t want to say any definitely. Slightly challenging to tell as it was a surface find.
Personally in my opinion it seems to display more qualities associated with Trout Creek Jasper.
It measures at 1 1/8’s in x 9/16 in. Has a slight ancient impact fracture. But it just add’s more character.
Made out of some Nevada obsidian gifted to me by my Godfather. Sort of an unusual yellow/green hue when held up to light. Fluted with pressure.
All recovered in North Eastern Oregon. Middle to Late Archaic point styles. Materials are banded dacite & obsidian. The two corner notched pieces are likely Elko’s.
Gorgeous Burlington chert Early Archaic-era Dovetail. Had decent blue-hinge. Which is just a special way Burlington forms a patina. Clear sign of authenticity. Ex. Brayden Foster
Found in Missouri.
Materials include Ft. Payne, burlington, knife river flint, flint ridge, cumbres chert, and elizibethian petrified wood.
Need to get a stationary microscope to really refine my technique. But these aren’t awful.
Smallest is 8mm.
Materials include, Hartville Uplift Chert, Edward’s Plateau Chert, Trout Creek Jasper, Alibates, basalt, and silicified mudstone.
Scrapers, a simple, ubiquitous, yet effective tool you see employed by many stone-age cultures. The most common form is a flake uni-facially modified to produce a more dull, steep, and uniform edge to scrape with. Although finer examples were also made off of bi-facially (knapped completely on either side) thinned preforms. (The scraper labled #SC-1 is a good example of this.) Occasionally they were hafted in composite handles to allow more leverage to be exerted on said tools. Microscopic use wear analysis can give us insight into how these ancient tools were used. One common sign of use is polishing of the distal (tip) working end of the scraper. Evidence of working softer materials such as hides or plant fibers. While micro-chipping may indicate use on harder materials.
(Drilled K9 is Ex Raymond C. Vietzen collection. Excavated at Glover’s Cave. The two nicer Ft. Ancients are Ex Carl Saunders out of Ohio, while the smaller one is simply listed as Ohio.)
The Ft. Ancient culture represents one of the last pre-contact civilizations of the Ohio River Valley. Dating to roughly (1,000-1,650 CE) While their predecessors such as the Adena and Hopewell relied on the atlatl spear thrower as their main weapon. The bow and arrow came into widespread effect during this time period. Meaning their projectiles became much smaller. Also foreign domesticated crops such as the three sisters (corn/maize, beans, and squash.) Came into the area from further to the Southwest. Supplementing their diet of crops from the Eastern Agricultural Complex.
Notable for their construction of large effigy earthworks. Such as the Serpent’s Mound located in Adam’s Co. Ohio. Evidence of stratified class systems such priests or some form of temporary ceremonial chief to have sway over so many workers. During the Ft. Ancient time period specialized goods were also produced such as extensive use of canal coal for ear spools, lip/cheek labrets, beads, pipes, etc….
However they were unable to sustain their ways of life after European settlement and encroachment into their land. With the Miami, Shawnee, or Anglos coming to inhabit the areas they once called home.
Had some Roy Miller flintridge stashed away that Tony was interested in and struck up a horse trade for a Georgetown Folsom. Hard to describe the skill it takes to accomplish these flute with regularity. But if you have a whole jig named after you then you’re clearly doing something right.
Just a few left of the cache I made maybe two months ago. Most of them i’ve gifted away. Brad Moore hornstone. Also had a decent finished Turkeytail, but gifted it in a trade to Tony Soares. Still been knapping plenty. Just not posting much.
Nothing too fancy.
From a Late Archaic to Woodland era campsite located along the front range of Colorado. Material is mainly Elizibethian formation petrified wood. Some of it is even agatized. These are great examples of pieces of stones that were mined for flakes/spalls to work into different tools. Evident by repeated evidence of flake scars and removals that intrude across the natural cortex of the stone. Also found alongside these were flakes and other finished tools.
Wood grain is clearly visible on a majority of these artifacts.