Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Flintknapping => Topic started by: JoJoDapyro on July 30, 2014, 11:06:34 pm
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I was talking to my boss today about building bows, and that I now wanted to get into knapping. He told me that his late father was quite the point collector. He goes on to tell me that He has 4 or 5, 5 gallon buckets of points, ranging from small bird points to larger knife blades and spear points. He had one in his office. Can you tell anything from the size and shape? I imagine that he would have found this in either Utah or Arizona. Thanks
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The big one reminds me of a ball point pen.
The other objest must be the smallest broken side notched
point made in Utah/Arizona.
Well not really but it is tiny.
Zuma
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Too funny zuma on the ball pen point!
Looks like obsidian bird point to me.
Tracy
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Zuma you beat me to the pen remark. ;D
May be the other is a blowgun dart point? Not really though. Man that thing is small.
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There's a little museum in Globe, AZ and most of the points on the arrows there are that small. You'd be hard pressed to find one any wider than your thumbnail. My brother sent me some photos of them that I don't have anymore, if he gets on here maybe he can upload them. I think we too often over estimate the size used for normal hunting. I know if I needed to get something on the fire to eat I would use whatever I could to get it done, regardless of size.
Cool point though, and heres another thought, I wonder if we just don't find as many of the small points because, well...they're small?
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I am sure he has showed me this before, I just never took it to be anything special until I understood how difficult making points really is. The photo doesn't show color, but it is almost purple. I am sure that people don't find them like this due to the size.
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They call those "Desert side notched" or "Pueblo side notched". They are true arrowheads and yes, they are sometimes really small. That one looks like obsidian, as stated already. Probably from the late prehistoric period (after AD 1000) when most arrowheads from that area (AZ and UT) tended to get smaller and more triangular (straight sides and base).
The more I look at it, the more it looks like the base may have snapped off and there may have been two notches on each side. Does it look broken at the base?
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Maybe I missed it, but was the pen obsidian, too?
I know there are obsidian sources in the southwest part of Utah (particularly down around Blackrock, Utah, of all places) but are there other places around there where it could be found?
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I have never seen obsidian in southern Utah, but I have never looked either. It looks almost purple in color, and I didn't really get a good look at the base. I will on Monday when I am back to work. No, the pen is plastic.