Author Topic: couple observations  (Read 1585 times)

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JustinNC

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couple observations
« on: March 01, 2011, 11:12:04 am »
Was looking through an old shoebox of artifacts at my grandmothers house this weekend...couple observations....

1) most were rhyolite....normal for this area
2) It's amazing how thin some of those old Hardaways were, must have been from small thin flakes, virtually no steps, minimal flake scars except the basic shape, and stupid thin for rhyolite and stupid thin for most anything else.
3) There were Indians that I could relate to   ;D ...there was a Guilford in there that was as this as it was wide.....1:1 probably.
4) Ive looked at those points a hundred times...but havent really looked since Ive known anything about the art.....more Indians I can relate to= STEP FRACTURES
5) While Ive only found 1 point that wasnt quartzite or rhyolite here, that shoe box had some slate points that appeared to have chipped away and then beveled. Also a two different broken points that appeared to be ??Burlington?? not sure, but was white, and not the weathered rhyolite cortex white, and possibly a couple agrillite (dark colored, similar to dark rhyolite, but no cortex??...apparently hard with steps and thinning issues as well) points.
6) Savannah rivers appear to have been the most popular, but not majority, with a wide variety of other styles.
7) FINALLY....Rhyolite, my stone of choice to learn on, is not obsidian, it's not cooked TX, or anything else......it's TOUGH, IT WILL STEP and ROLL OUT, and even the guys who's lives depended on it couldnt make it look like James Parker, or even some of the points Alan and Lyman have posted, all the time, perfection will come, but there is nothing wrong with UGLY, STEP FRACTURED, slightly THICK, USEFUL points.


Not really any point to this post, and pretty much a waste of 5 minutes, but I loved artifacts before, and now that I know a little (maybe can't reproduce them yet) about them, I love to go back and look at them and see where their troubles were as well.

Offline piper

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Re: couple observations
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2011, 11:36:30 am »
AMEN
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                     Western North Carolina

Offline Sparrow

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Re: couple observations
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2011, 12:04:19 pm »
 Yep !  I get a kick outa doing the same thing. Once in a while you come to one that is so perfect,just master work,but most of them are'nt and some of them are very crude. All good   Often inspires me to copy it and I learn just how it was knapped and you put the two together and bridge time   '  Frank
Frank (The Sparrow) Pataha, Washington

Offline jamie

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Re: couple observations
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2011, 09:41:00 pm »
ditto justin. i work with an indian museum on the side and get to handle a lot of artifacts. the stuff that impresses me the most is the wicked tough stone that was used around here. next time i get a chance i'll get some pics of the quartz knives that have a 7/1 ratio. blows my mind when i see pieces like that.
"Man is a tool-using animal. Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all."

waterbury, ct

Offline Lobo69ss

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Re: couple observations
« Reply #4 on: March 02, 2011, 09:09:12 pm »
Justin,
  Greetings & welcome to the club...   lol.
  I`ve been trying to learn this knapping stuff for a little over a year now & recently got the best advice I think I could`ve ever gotten from a friend who`s been knapping for a while now...  Look at your artifacts, learn from them.  I make a lot of small points that I put on necklaces  & ear rings... making them purty is important if I want to sell anything.
  This more experienced knapper asked if all I did was jewlery or if I also made replicas of authentic artifacts? When making jewlery, make `em nicey nice... the Ladies like pretty.  But if working on a point or blade to actually use, remember that most "real" points weren`t that nice, hinges, stacks & failed flakes were the norm even back then. The most important things that made a point/blade useful were a sharp point to open the hide or skin of the targeted critter, sharp cutting edges to get under the hide, & it needs to be thin enough to be hafted to the spear, dart, arrow or knife to be useful. Other than that, pretty is an option, not a necessity. 
 Now that I`ve come to that realization, I get a lot more working points that I was ever able to before.  My points may not be all G10`s, but they`ll get the job done with efficiency & I don`t do a lot of apologizing for "substandard" work. My stuff will stand up beside "real" points & given 1000 years, I don`t think the future archeoligists will be able to tell the difference except for the initials 7 year dates scribed into mine with a diamond tipped marker.
The man who sees the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.

Offline mullet

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Re: couple observations
« Reply #5 on: March 02, 2011, 10:07:21 pm »
I started knapping to make points to hunt with, and even after all these years that is still the primary reason I knap.
Lakeland, Florida
 If you have to pull the trigger, is it really archery?

JustinNC

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Re: couple observations
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2011, 11:44:48 pm »
While I'll strive to do the best and thinnest I can, I realized a lot of local points had large bases, wondering how they hafted them? I suppose the hollowness of the river cane shafts that were probably used, allowed more forgiveness if the base was a little thick, but narrow enough reasonably fit in the shaft. I just don't see how some of the thick bases of the artifacts would fit in a hardwood/solid shaft.

Offline mullet

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Re: couple observations
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2011, 11:58:58 pm »
Justin, they could have boiled the wood and made it pliable.
Lakeland, Florida
 If you have to pull the trigger, is it really archery?

JustinNC

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Re: couple observations
« Reply #8 on: March 03, 2011, 12:07:59 am »
I don't doubt that happened some Eddie. Just woulda hated to see how thick it would have been once hafted to wood.

Offline jonathan creason

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Re: couple observations
« Reply #9 on: March 03, 2011, 10:33:15 am »
I wonder how many of those artifacts somebody made, took a look at, and said "holy crap that's ugly" and tossed it aside?  Also, just like today, I'm certain there were many various skill levels among the knappers.  I'm sure the best got all the hot chicks.
Cleveland, NC

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JustinNC

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Re: couple observations
« Reply #10 on: March 03, 2011, 11:03:02 am »
I wonder how many of those artifacts somebody made, took a look at, and said "holy crap that's ugly" and tossed it aside?  Also, just like today, I'm certain there were many various skill levels among the knappers.  I'm sure the best got all the hot chicks.


I agree. Although I dont see going down to the Epicenter today and sitting up in the VIP section at one of the clubs with a piece of chert and banging out perfectly fluted Clovis with a 8:1 ratio, and expecting to get a little hide the gopher in the hole action later................or using that phrase and expecting any either ;D