Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Flintknapping => Topic started by: Stoker on May 04, 2016, 05:31:56 pm

Title: Interesting find
Post by: Stoker on May 04, 2016, 05:31:56 pm
Hi all.. I got the job of cleaning out the father in laws garage.. The man was a bit of a collector/packrat.. I can't ask him due to the dementia has taken it's toll.. He was big into the lapidary... He made trips into the US north west and north central.. We are in SE Alberta.. Any ways I found a point in the shop.. looks like a clovis to me but I'm no expert.. I'd like to know a liitle about it.. Odd thing that the cortex is left on one side... I'd like to frame it and give it to his great grand son
Thanks Leroy
Title: Re: Interesting find
Post by: stickbender on May 04, 2016, 05:36:05 pm

     Looks like a preform.  Sorry to hear about your Father n Law.  Something you might want to look up is benefits for dementia with organic coconut oil.

                                    Wayne
Title: Re: Interesting find
Post by: le0n on May 04, 2016, 06:30:34 pm

     Looks like a preform.

yeah; a dalton preform.

this is a neat site: http://www.projectilepoints.net/Search/National_Articulated.html (http://www.projectilepoints.net/Search/National_Articulated.html)
Title: Re: Interesting find
Post by: mullet on May 04, 2016, 06:33:14 pm
Looks like a Clovis to me maybe made from Knife River Flint.The white might not be cortex. It might be the side that was exposed to the sun and is the patina. You can find out by soaking it in Mineral oil for about two weeks. The patina will disappear if it is and finally come back in two or three weeks.
Title: Re: Interesting find
Post by: AncientTech on May 04, 2016, 07:27:55 pm
I would be really careful with that artifact, if I were you.  If you give it to a younger person he may not realize what he has. 

As Mullet said, it looks like it could be Knife River Flint.  The white portion may actually be a type of patina, from being exposed to the sun.  Alberta is the upper range of fluted points, in the central portion of the continent.  And, from what I remember, the fluted points I have seen from southern Alberta tended to be made from material that looks like Knife River Flint.  It is a sort of brown translucent material.  But, I do not believe that Clovis people made it that far north.

Here are some notes on fluted points from Alberta.  They tend to be shorter and wider than Clovis points:

https://books.google.com.mx/books?id=V_XNCXJcjlkC&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=alberta+fluted+point&source=bl&ots=uEmBdTwwf1&sig=EWUteXfn3sxRsbGOO2Huh3O9PkA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjKvqOXycHMAhVDGR4KHSoyDXwQ6AEIMzAH#v=onepage&q=alberta%20fluted%20point&f=false (https://books.google.com.mx/books?id=V_XNCXJcjlkC&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=alberta+fluted+point&source=bl&ots=uEmBdTwwf1&sig=EWUteXfn3sxRsbGOO2Huh3O9PkA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjKvqOXycHMAhVDGR4KHSoyDXwQ6AEIMzAH#v=onepage&q=alberta%20fluted%20point&f=false)

  https://books.google.com.mx/books?id=jZjtB0gAMBwC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=alberta+fluted+point&source=bl&ots=DTROfFNJyR&sig=QHjClNs9pI0oa5ZchPjsD-jTK5o&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjKvqOXycHMAhVDGR4KHSoyDXwQ6AEIODAI#v=onepage&q=alberta%20fluted%20point&f=false (https://books.google.com.mx/books?id=jZjtB0gAMBwC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=alberta+fluted+point&source=bl&ots=DTROfFNJyR&sig=QHjClNs9pI0oa5ZchPjsD-jTK5o&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjKvqOXycHMAhVDGR4KHSoyDXwQ6AEIODAI#v=onepage&q=alberta%20fluted%20point&f=false)

Here is a thread on Knife River Flint:

http://www.arrowheadology.com/forums/lithic-materials/45559-knife-river-flint.html?s=b97a2533f21994df32cf46ef775f2a7b (http://www.arrowheadology.com/forums/lithic-materials/45559-knife-river-flint.html?s=b97a2533f21994df32cf46ef775f2a7b)

If you post that on Arrowheadology, the people there could give you a much better run down on what you have.  They will probably need better photos.  And, they may ask about the base.  On the side with the straight base, if it is ground down, then the point was probably used, and they may tell you that it is paleo.  If so, bear in mind that some people hunt for 40 years, before finding a single paleo point.

Here is a Knife River Flint fluted point from Manitoba:

https://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/manarchnet/chronology/paleoindian/clovis2.html (https://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/manarchnet/chronology/paleoindian/clovis2.html)

Title: Re: Interesting find
Post by: clewis on May 04, 2016, 10:11:03 pm
It looks like a plainview, this article may shed some light or further confuse you  :laugh:
Pay particular attention to page 7 of 12 figure a.
http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/article/download/1082/1126
Title: Re: Interesting find
Post by: AncientTech on May 04, 2016, 11:15:34 pm
Clewis may have a better answer.  It may be Plainview, of which I know little.  I would have to guess paleo, though others probably know better. 
Title: Re: Interesting find
Post by: Stoker on May 05, 2016, 10:10:15 am
Thanks for the links.. Take me a while to sift through.. Mullet you may be correct on the patina makes sense to me.. It does look like a preform.. AncientTech  Good advice on the giving it to a young person.. He is my wife's oldest son's boy.. Good kid but a kid.. I beleive that the point should stay in the family..
Thanks Leroy
Title: Re: Interesting find
Post by: caveman2533 on May 05, 2016, 11:29:43 am
Agreed it looks clovis and is likely KRF, to me and the white is patina. You will often see that on artifacts that patina this way the white side was likely the side exposed to the sun form thousands of years.
Title: Re: Interesting find
Post by: Zuma on May 05, 2016, 12:05:29 pm
I tend to agree with Eddie and Steve.  ???
Looks like someone long, long ago worked hard to thin that base.
There seems to be a hinge fracture there also. That is a Clovis trade mark.
Great patina.
The artifact does not have to be from Alberta, since you said the
father-in-law visited the northern regions of the US. Check for
a ground base and lower edges. Take to a professional.$$$$$$
Good luck, Zuma
It could be put in trust for a youngster or I could pm my address. >:D
Zuma
Title: Re: Interesting find
Post by: Knapper on May 06, 2016, 06:56:53 pm
Cool
Knapper
Title: Re: Interesting find
Post by: Trapper Rob on May 06, 2016, 08:56:24 pm
Nice find.