Pulled Out All The Stops......

[Physiksgeek]

Started with a buddy early this morning trying to stay ahead of the rain....Went to two spots today that I got permission to hunt earlier last week. Found quite a few promising pieces but it needs to be plowed and then a rain or two. Left there and then made a circuit hitting some of his spots and some of mine. Most of the fields have been turned for the winter so with the rain we have had it was perfect for spotting flint.

Overall it was one of the best days I have had in a long time.....Since 5% of my hunting is in the creeks and the other 95% is surface hunting plowed fields I usually have to gauge my success on the size and quantity of the broken pieces. Well....today I got a little of both. I found the quantity between the two of us and I also found a little size as well. Below are the photos of my finds.

These two points below are right at 2-3/4"

So....if I found the quantity then my partner found the QUALITY in two super nice pieces. One is a complete two-hole gorget made of banded slate.....absolutely a beautiful piece in a plowed field. The other is a 4"+ Copena Round Base. Thin and well made and field judged to be 100% there. For reference...in the top two pictures above is a partial Round Base that I found. If he wasn't such a good friend I'd almost be mad......or at the very least jealous...lol!

 

[corymhoward]

dickson county also?

 

[LadyMarlin]

beautiful!

 

[Physiksgeek]

dickson county also?

Actually we put some miles on the little Pinto before the day ended. We packed an MRE, some drinks and ended up hitting a few places in Dickson County......a little bit of Montgomery.....and a whole lot of Cheatham.

 

[RUGER]

Very nice.

 

[corymhoward]

awesome

 

[A.K.A.]

With th longer ones that have a broken tip, why didn't they just keep working it and make it a smaller point tip?

 

[Huntaholic]

With th longer ones that have a broken tip, why didn't they just keep working it and make it a smaller point tip?

Ive often wondered that same thing myself. It's ALMOST like they werent smart enough, or uncapable of thinking outside the box so to speak. The fact that they didnt make a habit out of reusing broken points is what makes it so easy to classify them into the 4 time periods. Paleo, Archaic, Mississipian, and Woodland. Of those 4 groups Im pretty sure that the latter group were adapt at reworking broken points. Ive seen pics of Paleo and Archaic heads that had been reworked into usable points by the later time periods.

 

[Physiksgeek]

With th longer ones that have a broken tip, why didn't they just keep working it and make it a smaller point tip?

ETNWT - The points above were found in a plowed field so I would speculate these were broken long after they were lost or placed where I found them. To answer your question though they would certainly resharpen points and I would say they did rework broken or damaged points....to what extent or under what circumstances who knows. That is part of the attraction of hunting artifacts though....the speculation. Below are some photos of a plate that I have started with some re-worked points I have found. These are sometimes called "blunts" or hafted scrapers. I have posted these photos before but it has been some time ago.

 

[Physiksgeek]

Ive seen pics of Paleo and Archaic heads that had been reworked into usable points by the later time periods.

Huntaholic - to your point it made me think of an article I read again recently that kind of speaks to what you have said. It was in the Central States Archeological Journal, John Duncan, January 2006, vol 53 No. 1, pg 49-50. This is a publication put out by the Central States Archeological Society. I'm not going to retype the article so I hope the photos work.....Full credit to the author and the journal.

 

[ShaneHallum]

Nice.. makes me wanna get out there and find some nice stuff.. great reading by the way

 

[Boone 58]

awesome.