Something Ive noticed...slightly OT

[JustinNC]

Occasionally I will lurk on a popular artifact collecting forum, just looking at photos and what not. I have come to realize my archaeology needs a little brushing up on. I must have thrown away or not picked up thousands of artifacts (debitage) over the years. After looking at some peoples finds on there, I realize that many of the small debitage flakes I find are in fact "bladelettes" and "thumb scrapers". Some of the preforms, or what we would call preforms in the sense that all they need is notching and a maybe a final touch up around the edge to be a point, are infact scrapers and "hand blades". I also am convinced that I need to keep any and all debitage I find....because it isn't debitage, it's likely a thumb scraper, bladelett, or paleo precision surgical tool. 

I realize a lot of flakes were used as blade tools. I have a piece of nice green rhyolite, a flake that I found tilled up last year...all crusted like it gets after several thousand years, but with a chip recently busted out by the plow, that I'd kill to have a bucket full of spalls out of the same material.....I first though "Cool, a big piece of flint"....before I knew anything about lithics, where rhyolite came from and knapping. I have since come to realize it was a percussion flake. Ok cool. Well after looking some more at it, it's perfectly suited for a blade. While weathering has taken the razor edge it is still fairly sharp, nicely sized and shaped for a blade or scraper, but I also notice at the very tip of the flake, it had been knocked back to to speak and ground down, more so that the rest of the edge, into a rounded shape....perfect for a finger to rest. I can only assume now after fondling...yes fondling...the flake that that ground edge was an edge to rest a finger to use the flake as a tool.

That is one instance of "debitage" that once evaluated and looked at, seemed to be a tool rather than just debitage. It was big enough to get a point out of if they had wanted. I think had it been me and it was over 100miles to the source of the material, Id have used it as a blade tool as long as possible then turned it into a point. ....but some of those unsubstantiated claims  just baffle me on that website lol. I stare and stare and just can't picture it. Maybe it's just me lol

[Tower]

I, like most of us have hunted artifacts for many years. Yes I agree any flake could & many were used as a knife or scraper. Just look for the signs of usage. Not all flint artifacts were knapped  some are simple flakes slightly modified. My favorite is a flake with a notch in the side. I find I can reproduce them trying t build arrows. I have found 100s of these, but I overlooked them for years. I have also noticed that many, many artifacts on the internet are nothing more than preforms or some stone they began working on but decided to quit because the stone was too tough or flawed.Technically they are artifacts, but they are not what they are being sold as. i e. knives,scrapers,axes,or points. I skinned a deer once with a flint knife or started it with a knife. I soon found a simple flake worked better than the knife that I was using.When It dulled I just threw it down & grabbed another.

[JustinNC]

I, like most of us have hunted artifacts for many years. Yes I agree any flake could & many were used as a knife or scraper. Just look for the signs of usage. Not all flint artifacts were knapped  some are simple flakes slightly modified. My favorite is a flake with a notch in the side. I find I can reproduce them trying t build arrows. I have found 100s of these, but I overlooked them for years. I have also noticed that many, many artifacts on the internet are nothing more than preforms or some stone they began working on but decided to quit because the stone was too tough or flawed.Technically they are artifacts, but they are not what they are being sold as. i e. knives,scrapers,axes,or points. I skinned a deer once with a flint knife or started it with a knife. I soon found a simple flake worked better than the knife that I was using.When It dulled I just threw it down & grabbed another.

I absolutely agree that theyre all artifacts in the sense that it was essentially "created" by man, and that flakes are way sharper than finished products and they were widely used. I just find it humerous that they attach names to the flakes rather than just accepting that it was most likely debitage that may or may not have been used before totally disgarding.  I understand ones that were obviously used and shaped, naming them this or that, but just an apparent flake with NO apparent shaping, or heck a place to grip that wasn't razor sharp? I just find it humerous that they can't just say "Found some flakes...they may or may not have been used as a cutting tool" It gives them a sense of purpose for picking up and posting I suppose. Some of the guys on there that seem to have a little sense generally say something along the lines of "found XYZ kind of point. Also found a broke ABC made of X material. Possible camp site with a lot of flakes and debitage found"....I'll see if I can find an example and post it.

[JustinNC]

Of course now I can find the posts and photos I was refering to. I did do a search for thumb scraper and saw some nice, small, legit worked pieces but still couldnt find the ones I was refering to. Maybe they didn't spell thumb or scraper right haha

[JEB]

JustinNC,
good post.  wife and I hunt artifacts in the winter months out west.  Had a good winter finding some metate's, mano's, points, scrapers and a couple of beads.  Lots of hard work looking on the desert.  Sometimes 7 or 8 hours a days for one point. Point hunting is what got me started flintknapping (although I am not very good at it) I did kill a deer with a stone point I made two years ago.  I often wonder the histroy of a point when I find them.

I also located a rock source spot last year.  a mile walk into the mountains so  I come out with only about 50# of rock.   I mailed some back to a friend who is an artist when it comes to knapping and he cooked some and made some beautiful points out of the rock.  What is nice is the Indians left a lot of large debatage laying around so I didn't have to bust any rock up.  Lots of differant rock and colors.

I really admire the Indian nation and their ability to make tools and weapons with really  primitive means.

What artifact sites do you visit?

[JustinNC]

JustinNC,
good post.  wife and I hunt artifacts in the winter months out west.  Had a good winter finding some metate's, mano's, points, scrapers and a couple of beads.  Lots of hard work looking on the desert.  Sometimes 7 or 8 hours a days for one point. Point hunting is what got me started flintknapping (although I am not very good at it) I did kill a deer with a stone point I made two years ago.  I often wonder the histroy of a point when I find them.

I also located a rock source spot last year.  a mile walk into the mountains so  I come out with only about 50# of rock.   I mailed some back to a friend who is an artist when it comes to knapping and he cooked some and made some beautiful points out of the rock.  What is nice is the Indians left a lot of large debatage laying around so I didn't have to bust any rock up.  Lots of differant rock and colors.

I really admire the Indian nation and their ability to make tools and weapons with really  primitive means.

What artifact sites do you visit?

Well honestly as of late, only my grandmother's garden and the construction sites I inspect. ....never really been to an official artifact site. Used to hunt in a club that joined up to Town Creek Indian Mounds in NC. Never thought much to look in the logging decks that we had for food plots, but did find a nice stemmed kirk there that is one of my favorite points.